


When your time is up

by thesmallredone



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Drama, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, Idia needs a hug, Love, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Romance, Secret Relationship, Slow Burn, Social Anxiety, Somnophilia, Violence, nerd love, post Chapter 7, so far - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:08:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 41,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27219160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesmallredone/pseuds/thesmallredone
Summary: Fairies definitely can't handle tech, and this is why Malleus wants the best person for this job. Idia's got his post secured for him in the afterlife, so he might as well play along while he's here - the curse and his life with it cannot possibly get worse than they already are. Right?When the fairy prince reveals his true intentions, Idia's slip of the heart sets him up with a bite that could prove to be way more than he can chew.
Relationships: Malleus Draconia/Idia Shroud
Comments: 57
Kudos: 89





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Malleus wakes up, and Idia is just anxious.

Although the Witch of Thorns had dozens of henchmen,

Only one raven had the privilege of being called her partner.

He found the things she was missing,

Led the way for her allies, and fought against her enemies…

I’m curious if there will ever come a day when I find someone like that.

\-------------

As the clouds of dust settle in, two figures become visible in the field plagued with green fire: Dragon man, lying in the dirt, all grimy and dripping black goo, and a slouching mass of red flames with an unhinged expression.

"Are we done here, Malleus Draconia?!" - shrieks the flaming man, spreading his hands and towering above the horned, scaled creature in his black mud.

Blinking heavily in an attempt to focus, the only thing Malleus Draconia can actually recognize is Sebek charging in from nowhere and tackling Idia Shroud to the dirt right next to him before he finally drops his head back to the mud bath and into the dreamworld.

\-------------

Malleus opens his eyes in the bed of the empty nurse's wing on NRC. He's pretty sure he slept for way too long, because the last time he had a headache was about 15 years ago. Being awake right now feels refreshing nonetheless. As he scouts his surrounding, it's impossible not to notice a literal garden piled up on the nightstand and the floor beside it. He starts opening the cards that line the edge of the little table. Ramshackle dorm. Heartslabyul and Octavinelle. Scarabia, with a nice little shiny pattern.  
Distant talking in the corridor pulls his attention and the ambulance door creaks. Idia's back appears through the door, poked by Ortho.

"Move, go go go go already----"

"Alright! Alright, don't shout...I can't be late, they said he'd be sleeping for another day...!"

"I'll go with you unless you do it -"

"NO I'm going myself - I - I'll be real quick and be out -!"

"I'm awake."

"EEK! He's awake!!" 

Silver peeks inside.

"Ortho, please stay at the door, I have to phone in."

They close the door and Idia is left to face Malleus. He remains frozen for a good five seconds, staring at the exit longingly.

"Shroud." 

Idia turns to face Malleus with a defeated face. He approaches the bed and slumps into a chair at Malleus' feet.

"Soooo..."

"Shroud."

"Malleus-shi."

Malleus laughs.

"Please, drop that"

Idia pauses and his eyes widen. 

"Ma-Malleus."

"Welcome to my humble abode."

"Uh...Yes. Nice... flowers you got there."

"I'll use the cards as firewood when the next Dorm Leader meeting rolls around and no one invites me... again.", he smiles sourly.

"Ehehehehehe... Should I add those to your phone reminder?"

"To my...what?"

"Ha...? ᴵˢ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵍᵘʸ ᶠᵒʳ ʳᵉᵃˡ? Never mind."

Malleus tilts his head in curiosity. Idia scratches the back of his neck.

"You're mumbling again."

"Right... uh... Well... Listen... I - I'm sorry for what happened back t-there. You've probably... heard things about my temper from that... event at my dorm and... and... I didn't want it to happen again. But I kinda... o-overdid it. 

Idia suddenly slaps his face into his hands and adds "I have issues."

Malleus looks at him surprised.

"No, Shroud, you got it all wrong. In fact, I should be thanking you for your help. I don't remember a lot but, from what I do understand, everything transpired too quickly. Lilia was neither enough to contain the outburst, nor in time, and both Silver and Sebek lost it miserably when it happened. I suppose they are, after all, children... Either way, it's not an exaggeration to say that without you there, things would've gotten out of hand and I would've been looking at an international scandal instead of lazing around here."

Idia's face lights up.

"So you're not mad at me for whooping your ass?" 

Malleus grins with a subtle murderous intent.

"Now, I wouldn't go as far as to call it that - let alone in those words..."

A loud 8bit jingle from inside Idia's jacket interrupts Malleus.

"Oh, yes... You've woken up so..."

Idia takes two units of Gao Gao Dragon-kun out of his pocket and hands them to Malleus.

"I took care of them for you. Silver's idea."

"Ohh... Thank you." 

Malleus seems to forget his agitation and checks over both the tamagotchis slowly and attentively. Idia looks at him, ever so weirded out. How is this person an heir to the throne of Valley of Thorns? One of the top 5 wizards? The overblot is surely not even remotely close to his true power. Idia almost overblot himself again even with the support of Ortho's full armory. And yet he sees Malleus act like a teenager, get worked up over the stupidest taunts. He even enjoys the little retro game... What's he about? It was the first time Idia even saw someone overblot. Lucky or unlucky? He recalls Malleus' long, black claws and a tail that would make one hell of an AOE attack if he used it...

"Shroud?"

Idia snaps out of it and looks Malleus in the eyes. Right, in all the blackness of the overblot, they stood distinctly green, with the thin line of his slit dragon pupil. He is sure they glow in the dark. His jaw almost drops when Malleus brings him back to focus.

"I have two important questions for you."

"Ee?"

"Say... First, I would like you to take care of the second Dragon-kun."

"T-that's the important question...? What? Why?"

"I overestimated the amount of time I can devote to Dragon-kun daily. Still, I would hate to see the second one mistreated. And I would still like my old one to have a friend. See my problem? I'm sure that one well versed in "video-games" such as yourself would be able to handle it with little effort"

He smiles somewhat wickedly. Idia sees into the the provocation. This... weird, magical creature. Too weird. He's unsure as to what's happening. Yet he wants to know the SSR's game. Malleus hands Gao Gao Dragon-kun to Idia who is squinting at him, but still reluctantly takes the retro unit.

"ᴵ ᵈᵒᵘᵇᵗ ʸᵒᵘ ᶜᵃⁿ ᶜᵘʳˢᵉ ᵐᵉ ʷᵒʳˢᵉ ᵗʰᵃⁿ ᴵ ᵃˡʳᵉᵃᵈʸ ᵃᵐ ...Alright."

"I'd also like you to join me for dinner. Saturday, if you will?"

He did not just say that. Nooooooooooooo -

"...W-what? WHY? Where?"

"Oh, I just have a question. A proposition, perhaps. I'll have the eastern cuisine restaurant in town booked." 

"T-that's three questions piled up?! You don't even sit in the ca-cafeteria? I-I-I just - ask me now?"

"That would be rude; this is a... very unbefitting setting." 

Malleus spreads his arms at his own self lying in a bed of the ambulance wing. Idia shakes his head slowly in shock.

"N-no... What even? ʷᵗᶠ ᴵ ᶜᵃⁿ'ᵗ because there will be people all around and ᴸⁱᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ᵉⁿᵗⁱʳᵉ ᵇˡᵃˢᵗᵉᵈ ˢᶜʰᵒᵒˡ ᵈᵒᵉˢⁿ'ᵗ ˢᵗᵃʳᵉ ᵃᵗ ᵐᵉ ᵉⁿᵒᵘᵍʰ ᵃˡʳᵉᵃᵈʸ I just can't handle ᵖ⁻ᵖᵉᵒᵖˡᵉ -"

"I will arrange a lack of people for the occasion, rest assured."

Malleus smiles at Idia, who's still gaping in disbelief. He looks at the fairy when suddenly, black and pink hair drops in between them from the ceiling. 

"Am I interrupting?"

"EEK!"

Lilia smiles from ear to ear at Idia who has already pulled out his tablet and hid his face behind it.  
The tablet voices "I really have to go! Stay well!"  
The little vampire chuckles while Idia runs off towards the exit and grabs the handle like it's a lifeline.

"Kufufu, sleeping beauty. Did I just scare off your true love's kiss?"

Lilia grabs an unimpressed Malleus' cheek and pinches it softly. Before the door closes, Malleus notices the tablet peeking behind it with a huge "OK" written all over the screen before it creaks shut. He lets the childish pinch slide.

"Please, don't tell me you brought food."

"What, you open your eyes and want to eat? So unlike you. Feeling well enough, obviously."

Malleus rolls his eyes and calls for Silver to help him pick up his things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how you like this, if you will  
> Beta'd by Hogwuna (thank you baby kiss kiss uwu)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Idia is confused.

Way to drop the bomb. 

It's 10pm, the best time of the day.  
Idia lies in his bed, unwilling to do the daily gacha grind manually. Ortho floats in the opposite corner of the room, running scripts for big brother with ever so slight run discrepancy as to not violate the common gacha TOS. Sheesh, Ortho isn't some stupid third party software.  
There's a raid in about two hours, and Idia is genuinely pondering if he should he even join. The exhaustion is still catching up to him, no matter how many energy drinks he swallows every day for a full week now. And now he's supposed to 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 knowing that he promised an outing to the weirdo in charge of the most mystical country in Twisted Wonderland. What the hell does he even want? Does he even know himself? Is he going to make him sign a non-disclosure agreement about the whole overblot thing? It has to be that, it almost got out of hand and he said it himself - it would have been a huge issue. What's with the amount of important people in his year anyways? Except for Kingscholar, who was in literally everyone's class during the past five years, the sanity bar of the entire school in this setup was all but depleted. Like a badly balanced gacha game with too many 5* characters. Breaks the meta, you know?

Idia sighs dramatically. He takes the Gao-Gao Dragon kun unit, which he upgraded in a paranoia tantrum just the day before. The fairy king was online around four hours ago.  
Can he just maybe nap until Saturday?  
That's no good, he'll break the login streak in every single game.  
Ortho turns his holoscreens off and heads towards the door.

"Nii-san, I will go for a fly-by before the night. Be back at the usual time ~ ♪"

"Ah, Ortho. Thank you for your hard work. Have fun."

"It's nothing. Do try to go to bed earlier tonight, okay?"

"If I fall asleep, please wake me up when you come back though? I have business to tend to."

"Alright!"

Ortho leaves the room and Idia is left all alone with his boiling head. Maybe he really ought to sleep... Sure, just a nap to recharge before the raid. Faint excitement comforts the anxiety induced by the impending visit to the place of eastern cuisine he probably won't be able to look at, let alone eat without throwing up. Shame too, as he loves their takeaway. He turns his back towards the door and falls asleep without even noticing.

\--------------

Ortho enters the room at exactly 23:50 and notices Idia asleep on the bed. Very deeply too, according to the scan. He ponders for a second, then decides to leave him asleep despite what his brother said. He's well aware Idia can't really get mad at him. Online friends are better than nothing, but Ortho wants someone real to be his brother's friend. A real person and a real friend. After a brief pause, he dims the room's ambiental light and switches himself to sleep mode inside of his pod.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Malleus and Idia dine together.

"I can't believe you wouldn't invite him over for dinner in the dorm instead, some hospitality you have, kufufu ~"

"If I wanted to turn him off from ever wanting to visit the Valley, I would have done just that, Lilia."

"My food is royal, and you cannot sway me, heh..."

"Besides, would you take it upon yourself to have no one interrupt us in the dorm commons? Quite some task, vice dorm leader."

"I cannot deny, having privacy for negotiations of utmost importance is paramount."

His legs crossed, Lilia sips his tomato juice in the dimly lit space of the tastefully decorated restaurant. Malleus sits across the table, eyeing a large wooden carving of a 𝘳𝘺𝘶, the eastern dragon, hanging off the ceiling above the staircase. The spacious attic floor of the tavern is empty, save for the two of them sitting at the table in the triangular skylight. Muffled voices from the occupied lower floors can be heard in the distance. Malleus rolls up his sleeve to check on the brand new 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩, a simple mechanism, or so he was told. 

"You're nervous."

Lilia smiles gently at the deadpan face of his protégé.  
Malleus knocks on the small piece of round glass on his wrist and inhales.

"Any time now."

"You know, I was really surprised you'd think of something like this."

"Thank you for your praise."

Lilia laughs.

"Come on, I'm serious. At first I was so sure you hit your head really hard, or that you've picked up some stupid sense of humor from the other students, kufufu..."

Malleus looks at Lilia unamused. 

"...But in truth, your idea, no... your resolve, it's commendable. It's exactly the thing we came for to this school, this mentor cannot ask for more, ah... The only thing, the only thing I cannot grasp is... your choice, the human child Shroud. If you wanted the world's most famous expert, you should have called for an official visit from his father." 

"I want him, and I believe I explained twice why."

"Yes, yes..."

Lilia's lavishly adorned smartphone vibrates. 

"Well, I can really hope the cursed boy can reason with you, then, before you put him down. Fufu ~ Oh, I'll be taking this. Good luck ~"

Lilia winks at Malleus, picks up his glass and dissipates his body into a bat cloud which disperses into nowhere.

Malleus lets out a deep sigh. He takes Gao-gao out of the inner pocket of his school blazer and checks on him absentmindedly. Of course he is unsure if and how this is going to work out. He is unsure of the reaction of the residents in the Valley... unsure of the point, and the success of this makeshift plan. But it doesn't really matter. There's this little hunch he needs to follow. This might be it, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, the thing he was looking for. What would grandmother do? No, it doesn't really matter, after all, the decisionmaking is falling onto him fully soon enough. In this new age, he will ---

"Uh-hu... Malleus-shi?"

A flaming blue head pops halfway out of the staircase. Of course, Idia Shroud would be even more nervous than himself. Malleus stands.

"Shroud. Welcome." 

Malleus' main focus now is to put 𝘩𝘪𝘮 at ease, he cannot lose his cool, or else Lilia wins this one. And his plan fails. That would be the worst possible -

Idia steps up into the attic and approaches the table. So, he's really taking this seriously. He never wears his uniform to class fully - not that he ever saw it, but now, the shapeless blob of his usual jacket is replaced by a regular school outfit, a black shirt, and the otherwise well known blue Ignihyde vest and black blazer, and with the strangest detail - the long back of his flaming hair tied almost neatly into a braid and thrown over his shoulder, hanging to his waist. Of course, Idia is shorter than him, but how are his shoulders this wide? Aha, he doesn't remember seeing him in P.E. class either. Malleus is probably gawking at this point, because Idia slouches to his usual position, grabbing the end of his braid with both hands.

"I-I look weird... I definitely look weird...ᴵ ᵏⁿᵉʷ ⁱᵗ"

"Yes."

Malleus is blunt, this is weird. And the situation is now even weirder. Idia looks down with a face which begs to be taken to the floor below, ideally six feet under. Malleus suddenly realizes.

"It's weird seeing you like this. And just like the ceremony outfit, it looks very good on you."

Idia inspects Malleus' face for any indication that he is being mocked. 

"Well... it's a special occasion, you know. Had to dress nice... For the most important figure in our little school."

Stroked ever so slighthly, Malleus' ego puts a confident smile on his face. They stand weirdly for a few seconds. Malleus gestures towards the chair across the table, and Idia seems thankful to take a sit.

"Lilia-shi was here not long ago..."

"Ah. Did he greet you personally?"

"ᴵ ˢᵉᵉ... I was right then. This chair was sat on recently... but is not warm."

Malleus raises his eyebrows. 

"Clever. No need for precautions, though. This is but a 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵." 

"ᴵ ᵈᵒⁿ'ᵗ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᶠʳⁱᵉⁿᵈˢ... A-anyways, will you ask me your question now... I believe that in these ᵍʰᵃˢᵗˡʸ few days you've managed to formulate what you wanted to ask."

Malleus chuckles and closes his eyes. Very sharp, apparently, the boy saw through his uncertainty back in the Hospital wing. This is it, he thinks, scratching his chin. Short and concise. They haven't even ordered the drinks yet.

"I want to hire you."

"Eh?"

Idia blinks, obviously shocked. Malleus laughs.

"What's the matter? You look like you expected me to ask you to take a secret of the state to your grave!"

"I...I...I kinda did, you know?! What the hell?? What could a person such as yourself possibly want from me...? Wait, stop, I'm not buying stuff over the internet for you. Don't even dream of it." 

"Fu... Nothing of the sort. You see, what I want from you is what all the fae lack chronically. Your technological expertise, that is."

Idia looks at him half-worriedly, in silence. Malleus, of course, knows that his explanation isn't enough.

"You see... Shroud. I am a soon-to-be king, as you probably know. It is, in more ways than one... a new age. Fae of the Valley are born of magic, live off it, self-sufficient, as will remain forever... but, shortly put - as I've come to realise, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭, the gap between humanity and my people is... wide. Very wide. I was informed that you yourself questioned our practices of 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨... So."

Idia grins at Malleus apologetically, fidgeting with the end of his braid all the while. Malleus continues.

"Anyways, what I want from 𝘺𝘰𝘶 right now is... an assessment. Of my lands. Your... critical thinking, your advice, and ultimately, I am hoping, a formula. On how I should approach this one thing in a way different from our customs. On... maybe phrased like this; building better communication with the world of humans."

The flames of Idia's hair quiver in the rhythm of his breathing. The seriousness of Malleus' tone is making him uneasy. This is definitely not something he expected. It's difficult to stomach. He knocks the metal ring tying his hair against the shiny buttons of his vest. Hell, this is more serious than the NDA contract he was so sure he'd be presented with. He sighs and grabs his forehead. 

Yes, it's certainly different from patenting a brand new type of data relays - the data about his task is insufficient. Could this be an optional branch of a main quest? It would be helpful to know more. 

"H-how do... What exactly do you want me to do?"

The future king of Valley of Thorns knows a wavering prey when he sees it.

"Well. To begin with, for your assessment, I believe it would be helpful for you to spend time in the Valley. As much time as you deem necessary, in fact. The sooner you start, the better. And, because I'm sure you're wondering about your reward, I'm willing to give you any reward physically or magically produced, to the full extent of my powers. Do not feel pressured to demand anything immediately, think on it, as I will see to it myself."

"Uh... but... I don't know anyone there... Except Lilia-shi and Silver-kun... Do you have ᵃⁿʸ idea how stressed it would make me to-"

"Let me immediately extend my invitation to Ortho Shroud. And promise the companionship of the mentioned two in whatever conditions should arise. And it goes without saying, my own. Let us at least try with the the first step."

Idia leans his chin on his hand in thought. A quick calculation is needed. Which duration could he possibly name for this activity? Any country, of which he knows next to nothing, save for just a little geography, would correlate to its capital... the capital's inhabitants, and the influence they have over the rest of the lands.  
Technically speaking, school summer vacation is a legitimate timeframe... A summer away from home, away from father's nagging, and 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 of new experience for Ortho, one he would definitely not earn capsuled away on the Isle. And such an enticing offer... is this vague activity really that important to him? Such lax rules about the reward, but considering the pile of rare metals he asked for the last time he got 'rewarded' - he didn't question it really. The time away from home is now the prize he seeks.

"So... uh... T-two... months?"

"Sixty nights. Acceptable."

Idia exhales with relief.

"Please give me time to work out the d-details of this task?"

"As I said, as much time as you need."

"There's going to be some contract involved now, is it."

"This is official business after all. But between you and me... it's not really that important."

Idia curls up in his chair mumbling something, almost hitting his head on the edge of the table. Malleus cackles at his reaction.

"The way of the fae, of course..."

He points his glowing index finger towards Idia, who looks up at it quickly, visibly weirded out.

"You touch it."

Idia stares.

"Touch it... h-huh... Will it prickle...? ᴱʰ, ʷʰᵒ ᶜᵃʳᵉˢ, ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ⁱᶠ ⁱᵗ ᵖᵘᵗˢ ᵐᵉ ᵗᵒ ˢˡᵉᵉᵖ ᶠᵒʳᵉᵛᵉʳ ⁱᵗ'ˢ ᵃ ʷⁱⁿ⁻ʷⁱⁿ"

"It's just a simple energy transfer."

"Huh. T-transfer."

Idia reaches for the finger wondering in which manner he might grow to regret this. He thinks about the summer vacation in the Valley of the fae. Is he going to be less of a weirdo over there? Doubtfully. The flames always attract attention. Malleus watches as the green of the spell gets completely eaten up in the full moon yellow of Idia's eyes. Their fingers touch. Idia's body is awash with unspecified, magical feeling for a brief moment as he looks into Malleus' slit-pupiled eyes. The fairy smirks. Idia retracts his finger and inspects it for a moment. 

"Now that your mind is at ease.. I hope?"

Idia looks Malleus in the eyes meaningfully and lets out another sigh of relief.

"Let us eat."

"L-let's..."

"Oh, and to start off our treaty... Will you please help me set that 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 for the scheduled Dorm Leader meetings on my 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦?"

Idia grins at Malleus with the stupidest expression, holding in his laughter.  
It might be considered inappropriate.

"ˢᵒᵐᵉ ʷᵉⁱʳᵈ ʷᵉⁱʳᵈ ˢˢᴿ you are"

"What?"

"N-nothing, please hand me your phone..."

"What would you like to order?"

"I'll eat m-my usual here..."

Malleus skims through the wooden-engraved menu.

"They have icecream."

"I want some, ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ."

"U-uh... I'll have some with you next time."

\--------------

"BROTHER!" 

Ortho hugs Idia tightly as he comes out of the tavern. The moon is much farther in the sky than it was when they arrived. Both say their goodbyes to Silver, who was waiting with Ortho at the entrance for the whole duration of the "negotiations", and head towards the 24/7 shop before going back to the dorm.

"So, how did it go?"

"Uh... he wants 𝘮𝘦 to introduce the internet to his country. And we're both kinda spending the summer over there."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Malleus acts shady, and Idia gets hurt.

Idia walks down the school hallway playing the summer event of Destiny: Great Commandment, not paying much attention to the things and people happening around him. Only history left, he reminds himself, and then he will be absolutely 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 for the day. He heads towards one of the round classrooms in the west wing. Stashing away his tablet, he scans the classroom for a free desk. As usual, the upper sunlit row is the last to get filled and he squints to see past the sunrays wanting to find out which way he should take to avoid having to ask anyone to move for him. His choice is made for him when he notices a tall horned shadow, patting the empty desk next to it, right below one of the blinding windows. Does he also usually set a 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱 for Trein and his boring questions? Though, he can't imagine Malleus' horns work to his favor when Trein is looking for a victim. Well played, anyways, he thinks while nodding to an Octavinelle student who obviously noticed where he is going to climb and moves a bit so he could squeeze past. Do they even have a joint lecture with class D today? Just sometimes, he is thankful that people he knows bait him into good opportunities. He never gets any himself, unless he makes them, that is. 

"H-hi."

"Hello."

"Y-yeah... thanks."

"Don't thank me yet."

Malleus takes out a small cardboard box from below the desk and puts it in front of Idia. He opens the lid. Inside it is a rather mushy block of plastic, something that may or may not have been a smartphone once upon a time. Idia sighs.

"I'm not even going to ask..." 

"I'm sorry. I don't suppose anything can be done for it?"

"I... I will check, but... sheesh, no promises, you know. In this state, just be happy if I save some of the information you had in it."

Malleus nods. Idia notices that he looks somewhat bothered. 

"H-hey, it's just a thing. We'll just get you a new one. And a 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺 protective mask, now that I think about it... And I should definitely set you up cloud backup... Add that one to the list of things I ought to teach you how to use..."

"Yes, I'm aware. It's just..."

He looks away in thought. Idia keeps looking at his sad profile. Is he sad... because he broke a phone? Are fairies usually moody? He should look it up, maybe hit the library tomorrow. He cannot help but notice a few Fibonacci curves in his image. There he goes, now he's studying it. How the hell do those horns meld into his skull..? Stop staring. Stop staring, stop stop stop - 

Malleus turns back to him with a tired smile.

"Is there something on my face?"

"U-uh...ᵐᵃⁿʸ ᵗʰⁱⁿᵍˢ, ᵃˢ ᵃ ᵐᵃᵗᵗᵉʳ ᵒᶠ ᶠᵃᶜᵗ ᵇᵘᵗ - ok, l-listen - I'll get this checked for you ASAP, so... uh, I'll give it back to you, say, tonight?"

Is he stupid? Did he just 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 to 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 again today? Malleus' face lights up for a brief moment.

"Oh. Tonight... tonight... Yes. Alright. When and where?"

Now is the best moment to start panicking.

"Uh... uuuh.... ᶜˡᵒᶜᵏ ᵗᵒʷᵉʳ ᵃᵗ ¹⁰ᵖᵐ ?

Great. Good job. Going out tonight again. Yayza. What an amazing day.

"I'll see you there then."

Malleus drifts off again. Sitting right next to him, he looks miles away already. Which is great, because Idia can now collapse on the inside in peace. 

Trein enters the class carrying Lucius.

\--------------

Around 21:30, Idia is staring at his sketchbook and wondering if he's made the right choice by accepting the vague request of the troubled fairy. Signed some sort of magical contract for it, too. Advising on tech business? Seriously... Ok, one task at a time. The phone's data was actually salvageable, though. For the better or for the worse, he found nothing of interest in there - save for one detail, tens after tens of info-empty reminder alarms set for every hour of every day, until the end of this month. And the ones he set for him, for the Dorm Leader meetings. Why is this thing important at all? He keeps staring at the sketchbook, and a messy drawing of Malleus' profile stares into the distance. He offered to meet up and hand over whatever data was left in the phone, but what is there really to give? He thinks about the distance he felt Malleus emanate in class today. He can't even call him to tell him that his endeavor had been fruitless. So now he has to go out. Serves him right for not getting the phone number from someone else from the prince's entourage. He pushes the sketchbook under his bed and puts his jacket and sneakers on. Ortho is out on his evening prowl already, so he turns the lights off and heads out. 

Night curfew was never an issue for Idia. He's the one in charge of the Ignihyde evening roll call, though, he dealt with that the very first day he was named a dorm leader. The previous leader had 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 installed both in rooms and dorm hallways, which triggered whenever someone tried to leave the commons, a system which, while efficient, received many complaints with regards to the privacy of students. From those who weren't proficient enough to pass under its radar, of course. Now that it was his duty, he decided to replace the stupid thing with a simple heat pattern and facial recognition system in the cave where the teleportation mirror stood. One checkpoint everyone has to clear, going in or out of the dorm. Now, he owns the system fully. 

He steps into the mirror chamber on campus, still very cautious about any rule-breaking students wandering about. However, the coast is clear so he heads out. Only a set of stairs in between him and the clock tower now. Mystery shop is closed at this time so he doesn't really expect anyone to come this way, and even if they do, he's sure he can remain hidden on the opposite side of the tower. At 21:55, he rechecks if his hair is falling out of the hood as he approaches the meeting point. 

He arrives first. He realizes that he is indeed out and about to meet a person. He looks up into the night sky and feels somewhat dizzy. Leaning in on the wall of the tower, he checks his Gao-Gao Dragon kun. Online... yesterday? That's odd. Malleus' behavior today... also odd. He absolutely doesn't want to pry, but he might just remind him about Gao Gao... Idia tries to plan out the rest of his night. Ortho doesn't know that he's out, and it's best to remain that way. He can't handle to elaborate the holes in his usual thinking process. 

At 22:05, Idia's hands are cold and sweaty. He walks a circle around the clock tower trying not to overthink the fact that he's been standing in one place, outside, for ten minutes. Any second now, and he'll be able to go back to his room.

At 22:15, Idia starts to panic. Where is this guy? How does he even check if he's on his way? How long does he even wait? Wait, he can hack the campus cameras. But at a glance, Malleus is nowhere to be seen. He bites his lips and stuffs his hands deep into his pockets. 

At 22:30, he's absolutely sure Malleus forgot. No, no way. He wouldn't. He was serious about this. Calm down, calm down. He sits in one of the arched passageways in the tower, puts his headphones on and blasts a lengthy techno track. There has to be a very good reason for this. 

At 23:20, he hasn't moved an inch from his spot. Idia's unseeing gaze is fixed in the direction of the staircase which leads to the dorm mirror hall. He's breathing heavily to some vague rhythm of the night air, known only to him. Finally, he slowly gets up and just stands there for a minute. This is... something he's used to. He's seen enough bad endings to know one shoved in his face. Malleus Draconia doesn't really care. 

He beelines for his room double time. He doesn't even notice when he slides down onto the floor, his back against the tightly shut door. He sits in the darkness of the room for some time. Why would anyone care, anyways? He is a cursed creature with a cursed past and a cursed future. The arrangement between them is strictly professional. That was one thing he was useful for. It wasn't his place to invite anyone and yet he'd done it. And this is how it should be. The fairy certainly knew the phone was worthless. Why bother with it? Why would he even want to see him for such a stupid reason? 

A tear runs down Idia's cheek.

\--------------

At 23:50, as usual, Ortho comes back and sees his brother sobbing on the floor leaned against his bed, his face shoved in his hands. Around him is a pile of shredded papers which used to be, he concludes, a drawing not long ago.

"Nii-san..."

"O...Ortho...I'm s-s-sorry..."

"What happened..?"

"It...it doesn't matter..."

"Please tell me!

"I was s-stupid... I've let it happen again..."

Ortho does a quick scan-and-patch of the pieces lying on the floor, and though some of them are missing, he can recognize the person. 

"Something happened with Malleus Draconia... Brother, did something happen between the two of you?"

"I told you, I was stupid... I we-went out, I should never have..."

"You met? Where is he now?!"

"Beats me, he never appeared..."

"You got stood up..."

Idia clenched his teeth.

"Can you please leave me now." 

Ortho looks at his brother with sad eyes. 

"If you really want me to..."

"Please. I...I'll pick myself up."

Ortho has little choice. He gives a sad nod and withdraws into his pod.

"Good night, big brother... Please at least try sleep later."

"I will try..."

He shuts down for the night. Idia sniffs and climbs into his bed, staring at the ceiling. 

Failed quests happen. At least no one else saw him fail so miserably. He wonders how he should communicate with Malleus now. Should he just pretend nothing happened? That might be for the best. Unwind, unwind, unwind. He grabs the handheld console from his desk and powers up his favorite space battleship game. He's happy he can play it with his eyes closed, as well as with a treacherous salty liquid filling his eyes and running down his face.

\--------------

Around 4:45, drowsy and rather numb, Idia is waiting in his twentieth lobby for the night, when he hears a knock on the door of his room. He's tired, but he isn't hallucinating, he thinks, counting empty cans of energy drinks on the floor. He gets up as quietly as possible and hopes it's not a messenger from home - because those were known to come unannounced, and of course no tech would keep them out because father sent them, after all - so he checks the dorm entry point logs, but they show nothing. Then, it's gotta be someone from the dorm. Ortho is asleep so he doesn't really care if they see him in his PJs. He hesitates and breathes in deeply, then opens his door.

In the doorway, weary, red eyed, Idia Shroud faces Malleus Draconia, his cornea fully swallowed by the green of his dragon iris. Idia barely manages to open his mouth before Malleus whispers with an eerie reverb in his voice.

"Please let me in."

Idia can't even respond before Malleus gently grabs his shoulder and pushes him two steps back and inside the room. He leans against the wall while Idia still stands in front of the door. Malleus seems to be breathing heavily. Idia just gawks at him in disbelief.

"Just give me a moment, please."

Trying to recuperate, Malleus notices the sorry state the room is in, then looks back at a shaken, mildly embarrassed Idia. 

"I-I...didn't expect a visit..."

"I know it might not the best of times."

Oh, it sure might not be. Idia looks at the floor unseeing. The echo in the fairy's voice unsettles him. He remembers sitting at the clock tower and he bites his lip. Malleus breathes in deeply and approaches Idia.

"You look tired."

Idia looks at him, his blue lips bloodied. The dark circles around his eyes are showing just how long he's been awake. He's almost shaking. He has a million questions for the dragon man and his expanded irises. As if he hears the struggle in his head, Malleus' monster eyes somehow turned even sadder. The flaming hair flickers and Idia looks aside in protest. He wants to make an assertive reaction to this intrusion, but either because of exhaustion or surprise, he can now only avoid eye contact.

"Why are you here?" 

"I didn't honor our agreement, right at the beginning of our joint effort."

The reverb in Malleus' voice seems to be subsiding. 

"I thought I should check up on you. I expected you to be upset."

Malleus takes Idia's arm and pulls him towards his bed. Idia's brain bricks. At the slightest push, his body slumps onto the warm mattress. The only thing he's certain of right now is the dissociation. Malleus lies down right next to him, their legs hanging off the bed, and he aligns his face with the flaming, flustered one.

"For now, just believe me. The last thing I wished for tonight is to forsake your effort. 

His head all but empty, Idia is only fixated on the bestiality the green eyes emanate.

"In time, I will tell you everything. Don't fear. Please."

"The phone... why was it important...?"

"It had the reminders set by yourself."

"Then... how did it break?"

Malleus puts up a sad smirk as he summons a handful of dark, glittering fog in his palm.

"Just like all of my patience for machines... smashed for disobeying my command."

"Command...?"

"I tried to set up 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 of my own... to no avail."

Set up reminders? So the million empty alarms were him... practicing...? And he got pissed off at the thing because he couldn't manage? His brain suddenly rushes into thinking, but not for long, for his body can't follow anymore. Malleus brings the shiny cloud towards Idia's face. His tired, swollen eyes slowly close, reflecting less and less of the now very dimly glowing hair into Malleus' somber gaze. 

"In the end... you knew the phone was otherwise worthless."

"Not at all. It gave me reason to see you."

Malleus places his palm onto Idia's cheek, watching his moonlight eyes close completely. His fingers trail slowly down the line of his jaw.

"𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘐𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘚𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥. At least for a short while..."

The rhythmic pulsating of the flames' glow slows down to a steady, but serene pace, and Malleus is sure that Idia is asleep. He's tempted to join him on this small piece of foam, however uncomfortable it felt. However, he is sure it would bring nothing good to the two of them at this moment. Reveling in the thought for a few more minutes, he gets up, and slowly gathers Idia's legs towards the rest of his body in a hopefully somewhat comfortable curve on top of the bed. Looking for a cover of a sort, he notices scribbles all over paper pieces spread out on the floor. His pride doesn't want to pry, but upon light inspection he concludes it's not text. Irritated, but now hopelessly intrigued by the papers, he assembles them in a matter of seconds. He stands up looking at it, conflicted. The drawing on the paper is undoubtedly in his likeness. He is, of course, aware of his good looks, even among the fairies, but he finds this simple drawing exceedingly beautiful. Rather simple but, looking at the singular hairs arranged in the eyebrows, obviously meant to be elaborate. It was unfinished - now torn, and in pieces. Remembering the entire overblot ordeal, Malleus feels particularly excited about Idia's temper. He picks up the piece of drawing containing his eye and spreads the rest back to their original state around the room in a single breath. Covering Idia's peacefully sleeping body with a blanket he discovered in a box under the bed, Malleus decides it would be best for him to take his leave.

He stands in front of the room door and, concluding that he will probably damage something or worse - alert a third party to his presence, should he try using the mechanical door, he decides it's best to travel back to his room the usual way, via magical teleportation. With one last look back to the sleeping flame, the dark room is awash with flickering fireflies, and Malleus Draconia is gone.

\--------------

Around 7:50 that morning, all freshened up, Malleus is standing at the entrance to the school building, and, to make it 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, staring at his watch continually. Comfortably tucked in his hooded jacket, Idia comes up the stairs and, obviously noticing Malleus calling him with a slightly uncomfortable stare much like in class yesterday, approaches the fairy hesitantly. 

"Good morning, Shroud."

"Uh...so... just to check... you weren't... ⁱⁿ ᵐʸ ʳᵒᵒᵐ ᵃ ᶠᵉʷ ʰᵒᵘʳˢ ᵃᵍᵒ, saying all kind of weird things, looking even weirder, were you?

Malleus looks at him slightly surprised, then chuckles.

"You slept well? I'm happy."

Idia closes in on Malleus and scowls into his face, inspecting his eyes thoroughly. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he scratches the back of his neck with a confused expression. 

"Jeez, ᵇᵃʳᵍⁱⁿᵍ ⁱⁿᵗᵒ ᵐʸ ʳᵒᵒᵐ ⁱⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ᵐⁱᵈᵈˡᵉ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ⁿⁱᵍʰᵗ, is there nowhere I can be safe from now on? After leaving me hanging like that yesterday."

"Join me for lunch on campus today? I will come meet you immediately after morning period. As repentance."

"ᵀʰᵉ ᵒⁿˡʸ ʳᵉᵖᵉⁿᵗᵃⁿᶜᵉ ᴵ'ᵈ ᵃᶜᶜᵉᵖᵗ ⁱˢ ᵗᵉˡˡⁱⁿᵍ ᵐᵉ ʷʰᵃᵗ ʳᵉᵃˡˡʸ ᵐᵃᵈᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ˢᵏⁱᵖ ᵒᵘᵗ ᵒⁿ ᵐʸ ᵉᶠᶠᵒʳᵗ ᵃᶠᵗᵉʳ ʰᵃᵛⁱⁿᵍ ᵃʳʳᵃⁿᵍᵉᵈ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵉⁿᵗⁱʳᵉ ᵃᵈᵛⁱˢᵒʳʸ ᶜʰᵃʳᵃᵈᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵐᵃᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵗʰⁱˢ ˢᵒᵘⁿᵈ ˢᵘᵖᵉʳ ⁱᵐᵖᵒʳᵗᵃⁿᵗ ᶠᵒˡˡᵒʷᵉᵈ ʳⁱᵍʰᵗ ᵘᵖ ʷⁱᵗʰ ʸᵒᵘ ˢⁿᵉᵃᵏⁱⁿᵍ ⁱⁿᵗᵒ ᵐʸ ᵈᵒʳᵐ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵖᵘᵗᵗⁱⁿᵍ ᵐᵉ ᵗᵒ ᵐᵃᵍⁱᶜᵃˡ ˢˡᵉᵉᵖ ʷʰⁱˡᵉ ˡᵒᵒᵏⁱⁿᵍ ʰⁱᵍʰ ᵃˢ ᶠᵘᶜᵏ."

Malleus frowns. No, of course he wants answers. And he must have them, yes. But not now. He exhales in a defeated manner.

"I'll make good on my word, you will know everything. I might be asking for a lot when I request your patience, but I am asking for it nevertheless. Meanwhile, let me buy you lunch."

"Maybe I should make you order takeaway online from town?" 

For a second, Malleus makes an alarmed face. Idia grins at him vengefully. 

"It's a deal then ~ I'll teach you."

Malleus sighs, then gestures towards the castle, lest they be late for class. They are not sharing one today, but that won't stop him from following his designated advisor to his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure Idia is playing all the popular gachas. (stupid reference to f:go in the beginning)  
> A hefty amount of words, took me a while, the next chapter should be less depresso :'D  
> A round of applause for Hogwuna for reading my thoughts when I need it *clap*


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Idia and Malleus watch a movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idia invites Malleus over for a movie. Repertoire for the night is a vampire movie starred by Gackt and Hyde - Moon Child (2003). Clarifications of references can be found in this synopsis of the movie (for those who haven't seen it, though, I hope their discussion is clear enough) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Child_(2003_film)
> 
> Thanks to my beta, Hogwuna, for enduring this crap for me.

Idia stares at the drawing of Malleus, assembled meticulously on his desk. He looked everywhere for the one missing piece for a full week, and he's pretty sure it wasn't trashed because he had Ortho scan the entire room back and forth twice before throwing the garbage out. He ductaped the pieces which remain, just to be sure. Did Malleus... accidentally step into it and walk it out of his room? Though, there has been no sign of him 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 out of it to begin with. What a wreck. He finally sticks the patchwork piece back into his sketchbook onto a blank page. The eye slot is empty. He grabs the pencil and starts redrawing the eye. Expanded iris, and all. It's been bugging him ever since. Though, he has no time for spiraling into that now, he has to setup the holo-projector. He hasn't used it since early November last year, when he actually screened Pumpkin Hollow in the library for the entirety of 27 interested students. He does recall being weirded out by the fairy prince's presence even back then, but he didn't give it much thought in the comfort of his pumpkin-shaped helmet. In retrospect, it would make sense that he is interested in B-tier pop culture classics, because when he invited him to watch "Moon Child" with his eloquent pitch about the portrayal of certain magical beings in cinematography, he accepted with much enthusiasm. Which brings Idia back into present - He should finish cleaning up the room.

"𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬."

"Brother!"

Ortho frowns at Idia, who brushes it off with an apologetic shrug. He has Ortho's sensors disabled during the night for a good reason. Imagine all the rage of competitive gaming judged by his baby brother. It's almost midnight, and he's getting ready for sleep mode.

"It's very nice that you're instructing Malleus Draconia-sama in popular cinematography."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it popular but... You know, once we get the internet over there up and running, I'm pretty sure some of the Valley residents won't be happy to see 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 as the top-rated thing in that genre. They need to know that there's quality alternatives."

"Hehe, imagine 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 being screened in the very first cinema in the Valley of Thorns."

"Cinemas are a thing of the past, Ortho. They could get any third tier techie to fix them up a millennia-long contract for satellite 7G speed. What 𝘐'𝘮 bringing to the table is..."

Idia pauses. It's kinda flattering, now that he thinks. An entire self-sufficient nation, completely devoid of technology. Hell, considering Malleus' usual reactions, he'll be performing magic-like acts. Bruh, he's a savior.

"What I'm bringing to the table is all the 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦. Some magic."

Idia makes the 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘦 gesture. Ortho looks at him unimpressed.

"But not the magic of cinema experience."

"ExPeRiEnCe... Who cares about stupid old social gatherings with the equipment of limited performance."

Idia wraps up the trash bag and stashes it away in the bathroom, behind the door. He sets up the angle of the holo-projector and tests the view from the bed. Popcorn, check. He snacks away his reward, a chunky chocolate bar, when the air inside the room starts glimmering with golden fireflies and a second later, Malleus Draconia is at the door. The inner side of it. Idia inhales deeply and rolls his eyes.

"Good evening. Little Shroud."

He nods at both Idia and Ortho with a gentle smile. Ortho lights up.

"Malleus Draconia-san! Sorry, you're a little early! I'll be leaving you now! Have fun ~"

Ortho winks at Idia with a distinct lack of subtlety and retires to sleep mode inside of his pod. Idia sighs and smiles awkwardly at Malleus.

"Uh. Welcome. In here. Again. ᴺᵒ ᵏⁿᵒᶜᵏⁱⁿᵍ."

"Hello."

Malleus removes his gloves and school uniform jacket and hangs them on Idia's chair leisurely. He bumps his shoulder against Idia's playfully and lands with a thump on the bed, smiling at him cheerfully. Idia's heart skips a beat.

"I'm... uh, uh... happy you're so comfortable here... Ha."

"No rush. I like simply resting in the ambiental light you have here."

Idia glitches out.

"Uh. Well. Just give me a minute."

Idia struggles, but manages to connect everything and somewhat hesitantly joins Malleus on the bed, stuffing the pillow in between his back and the wall. He practically hugs the popcorn bucket. The closeness of his body is even more unsettling when he's wide awake. Malleus, on the other hand, seems to like it, as he watches Idia set up the playback a little too attentively, excited for both the movie and the fact that he got invited for an activity again - and managing not to blow it this time. His struggle seemed an eon away and he was well and eager to learn the ways of 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩. Lilia's laughter connected to that particular term echoes in his thoughts. Idia offers the popcorn bucket to Malleus.

"Y-you okay? We're good to start."

Malleus realizes he's been drifting away and blinks back at Idia.

"Yes. By all means."

Idia nods, waves into the air as if pushing something, the lights are out and the playback is on.

He doesn't exactly like making comments while watching a beloved masterpiece. He does glance towards Malleus a few times, and he never once catches him blink, he only sees the dancing images of the holo-projection in his wide open, interested eyes.

Around 2am, the movie is over. Idia exhales longingly. Malleus still watches the blank screening of the holo-projector.

"S-so, that's it! Uh... what do you think?"

Malleus takes a few seconds to respond while eyeing the holo-canvas, seemingly suspended mid-air.

"This is quite a useful magic, I noticed before. Do you think you can teach me, some time?"

"Uuuuuuum... That's just a projection. It's a machine, runs solely on electricity."

Malleus furrows his brows.

"I'll make you one...if you want. W-with voice commands, if you desire so."

Malleus looks at Idia with almost childish delight.

"It would make me very happy."

Feeling the blood rushing to his face, Idia decides it's best to leave the bed this instant, jumps off and towards the box of energy drink cans stuffed in between his desk and Ortho's pod, and he sticks his entire upper half inside to contain the reaction. Snatching a can, he leans against his table, clicks it open and drinks the entire thing, bottoms up.

"ᵗʰᵉ ᵐᵒᵛⁱᵉ, I mean...How do you like it?"

"Hm."

Malleus crosses his arms and scratches his chin in thought.

"It's very emotional."

Idia nods, hiding the lower half of his face behind the can.

"I am not quite sure I fully understand the motives of the vampire, 𝘒𝘦𝘪, though. He refuses to embrace a person on her deathbed... but he does embrace 𝘚𝘩𝘰, the one he cares about the most. Even though neither of them seem happy about the outcome, and only for both to reach the end too soon.

"Well, 𝘒𝘦𝘪 might have planned for them to burn out in the sunrise together from the moment he turned 𝘚𝘩𝘰. And he wanted his friend to see his child grow up and be happy."

"Interesting. A life in the night isn't something suited for everybody, of course. 𝘒𝘦𝘪 seemed like a low level vampire. He burns in the sun."

"Well...I'm not an expert on vampiric legacy, but... the emotions in the final scenes, and the selfishness, ah, they acted it out so beautifully..."

"Selfishness?"

"Of course. 𝘚𝘩𝘰 practically guilt-trips the future of his child into 𝘒𝘦𝘪's hands, after which he gets turned anyway and sees it happen himself...not something he could handle, as you saw."

"Hm... among those, the thing I cannot comprehend in the slightest, is why would an immortal throw his life away like that, with an infinite future ahead of him? 𝘚𝘩𝘰 was only one person, and one who couldn't handle immortality at that."

"Well... I suppose... he just loved him that much... to release them both from the curse of the night?"

Malleus chuckles, intertwining his fingers.

"Love... The human side of it... Dying together... release... so theatrical. So...𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤. I've noticed it's a popular motive in human poetry."

"Malleus-sh... Malleus... faced with an imminent death of a beloved person, you would not be tempted to cut your lifeline short to stay together?"

"To what cause should I be? I have at least a thousand years ahead of me in life, possibly several times more, and adequate responsibilities tied to it. In fact, I welcome the change of the world, and the experience that comes with it. This is why I am here. Death is a waste, and I'm not particularly eager to meet it too soon."

Idia glances towards Ortho's pod, while his thoughts drift to the baby brother's funeral.

"Death is a waste... That it is."

He sits on the edge of his desk with a grim expression, one Malleus definitely manages to read well, because he gets up and approaches Idia.

"I meant no offense towards your household."

Idia looks at him for a second, then lets out a short, maniacal laugh.

"My household? 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, Malleus."

Malleus is only slightly surprised. Yes, he is familiar with Idia's mannerisms by now, but at the same time he notices that this is the first time the boy talks so freely in front of him. He is, of course, well aware of the purpose of the Shroud family, along with the notoriety of his ancestors. They seldom marry into new societies, and even if they do - every new generation looks the same, as far as he knew - fiery blue hair, and the eyes shining like a freshly spun spindle full of golden thread.

Not that he had the honor of meeting any of the Shrouds in person before, but the reputation - especially in the magical communities - truly does precede them. He even recalls reading about the events where the bloodline of the Keepers of the gates to the Underworld seemingly died out - but here he is, a living flame of the abyss. He doesn't find it too difficult to comprehend why Idia dislikes his origin. Is the animosity towards his own bloodline what makes him tick and turn towards technological progress? Looking past the flaming, messy bangs that flow around his face, Malleus again finds Idia's face and the riled up, golden eyes beautiful, and the strange rows of sharp teeth that make up his exotic smile appealing. However, prominent blue circles around his eyes truly speak that he will only sleep when he is dead. Malleus is somewhat worried. Even fairies need sleep to function to their full potential, let alone these frail humans. He looks at Idia for a moment.

"I hope you'll feel comfortable in my castle."

Idia's eyes widen.

"Y-yes... I look forward to seeing the place."

Anywhere but home, he thinks. An awkward silence settles between them. Idia can only take so much.

"W-well... an interesting fact about the main creator of this movie... He is a very talented artist who speaks many languages and plays over ten musical instruments..."

"Oh? Do you like 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 music?"

"Uh, well... I do like it, but I listen to it in very specific situations... For instance, it's good for making mechanical repairs..."

"I will play for you then."

Idia blinks slightly confused.

"In fact, why don't you come for tea to my dorm? This weekend?"

"Y-you are playing...something?"

"I'll have Sebek prepare traditional mandrake cakes too."

"ᶜᵃᵏᵉ... cake too..."

"I'd like you to hear a few things about the Valley before you come, I believe it would be beneficial for your task."

Idia has been trying hard to determine just why this guy is so interested in him ever since he overblot. Requesting 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱? Sure, he will work towards his goals. But that's not exactly enough of a reason in his book. Is he imagining things, that the fairy looks at him so fondly? Does he always do that? He wasn't exactly present for the pickup of his wishing star, but he had to face the delivery. Was he always like this?

"Tell me, Shroud. What do you find so captivating about technology? About progress?"

There he goes, asking strange things again. One day, he asks you to make an online order. The next he questions what powers your life.

"I...Uh, you see, machines are available to everyone."

Oh, to hell. Here he goes.

"Machines...they... they don't discriminate, so long as you are versed in their language. With enough effort, anyone can learn."

Malleus is standing in his usual thinking posture. Arms crossed, a hand on his chin. He looks amused.

"They are powerful, and they can do nigh anything you think of, far beyond human capabilities. They are not bound to a stupid genetic code dictated by nature, instead they can be built improvement upon improvement upon improvement. Self improvement, self sustenance, self sufficiency. And their best feature is that... they don't 𝘥𝘪𝘦. And they certainly don't tire out or gather blot. No, never, so very little maintenance is needed - and they can even be made to provide self maintenance. There is a way, and I intend to spend my miserable time in this world finding it."

"Miserable? Hardly...Look. How many can do what you can? Among other things, intelligence can be and is limiting. Affinity too, perhaps."

Malleus stands in front of Ortho's pod and looks into the pulsating flame of his heart. Idia shrugs.

"I still try my best."

"Your best seems the very best. I am not the only one to think so."

"I don't care about praise. I care about results."

"And the magic, it comes in 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. You are not fond of magic."

"Well, for all the power they exhibit, neither technology nor magic can create life. Sometimes we...combine... we improvise."

"The magical fires of the Underworld. This is... summoning."

Idia tilts his head. He is, of course, right. The soul of his baby brother, summoned and bound into a mechanical body, his memories 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘥 until a point of death of the body he was born into. For him, this is what it means to be alive. Malleus turns towards Idia.

"Very advanced summoning too."

"To the full extent of my ability."

"Huh... Well. It seems I will have something to offer to you too."

Naturally, Idia thinks. Malleus' sheer blot capacity and affinity towards magic is, as he saw firsthand, several times larger than his own. When the fairy is having a bad day. So, contrary to his belief, his magical studies, maxed out fully - might still have the potential for new specializations.

"I...Y-yes. I would like that."

A moment of silence.

"Now. The flames of the Underworld... do they 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯? I wonder."

Malleus closes his hand to a hair strand dancing on Idia's collarbone. What the hell. No, no. What? Idia can feel himself getting all flustered again. Malleus smirks.

"May I? With your permission, of course."

Idia's hair and face both light up. His otherwise regularly burning head is suddenly about to implode, but he cannot decline. That's not an option. No, he simply... doesn't want to. An unpredictable outcome. A new route. He quickly looks sideways and scratches the back of his neck, almost shrinking into his t-shirt.

"If y-you m-must..."

Malleus reaches in. A soft, almost vibrating, but oddly familiar sensation runs across his fingers. Magical fire. He looks at Idia's flushed face and wandering, tired eyes.

"I am glad I can talk to you."

Dumbfounded and red as a tomato, the ends of Idia's hair start flickering red. Malleus places his other hand on Idia's chest. He gently pushes him towards the bed, judging his prey all the same. Idia grabs his elbow, lowering himself on the bed. Malleus picks up and curls the flaming front bang off Idia's nose and around his finger, summoning a familiar glittering, cloudy spell of sleep into his hand and releasing it onto his forehead.

"Now, be at ease."

Malleus supports Idia's sleepy body onto the bed, leaning over him, his own hair almost touching the flames.

"You and I...Together, we will do the unthinkable."

Idia chuckles deeply, his eyes all but closed.

"Huh...madman...I could get used to this..."

Malleus grins ardently. He senses no fear on Idia's lips.

"Watch it... I might not let you sleep all the time."

"Fuhah...so theatrical...so...𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤..."

As Idia falls into a magical sleep, Malleus nudges his forehead with his nose, and dissolves into the night surrounded by the faint light of the fireflies.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which both Malleus and Idia are confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I don't even know how to deal with this one, so I'm just not even going to tackle it." - my beta abt a long ass sentence in this chapter, 2020  
> Here we have some E content... well, a tease, sorta.

Idia lies on his bed. Head empty, Malleus Draconia only. So, to recap - this is how he got himself into this; he helped resolve Malleus' overblot episode, and suddenly he is the most interesting thing in the world. From the moment Idia accepted to realize the fairy's grand tech masterplan, tied to a - let's face it - shady and slightly unnerving magical contract, he's been spending a lot of his free time with him. Sometimes he even loses track how much. Joint classes? Malleus always saves him a spot if he's in the clasroom before Idia is. And then, lunches with Malleus. Flying sessions? He 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 to be Idia's tutoring partner, hearing Vargas shout at him for the x-th time over the entire courtyard. And then, afternoons with Malleus too. Two days ago, Malleus 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 into Diasomnia's common room, granted - because Idia was whining about meeting unknown people in the corridors, then seated him at the table where they got served by what might be men-in waiting for Malleus, but actual underclassmen for him. And they even talked for so long, Malleus decided to invite him 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. Weird all around. Every day, it's something. And all of that, tied with his own inability not to open his fucking mouth and 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦 about his hyperfixations to this attentive, attractive, polite person is just... Now, all of that would not be a problem if he didn't keep 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 whenever he asks those silly, but completely serious and honest questions and 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 ᵈᵃⁿᵍᵉʳᵒᵘˢˡʸ ᶜˡᵒˢᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰʰ-

"Brother?"

"Uh?"

"Are you alright?"

"Huh?"

"You're facepalming too hard."

"Oh."

"Let me scan you. Are you feverish?"

"What? No. Why?"

"Your body temperature is slightly higher than usual. Maybe you should go to sleep? We can play games when you feel better."

"Wha- no, I want to play now. I'm feeling just fine."

Ortho eyes him worriedly.

"Gee, honestly, I'm fine, if I wasn't, your sensors would pick up something else."

"Well, your heartrate is up too."

"NO-n-no...ok, listen. I... may have a dilemma."

Ortho calms down a little.

"What do you think about Malleus Draconia?"

Ortho lights up.

"Malleus Draconia-san? I quite like him! I also think he likes you too-"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I ASKED-"

"Big brother, you did ask what I think, fufu ~"

Idia looks at him with a half confused-half embarrased face.

"I think he is a very good friend for you, big brother. You really seem to be getting along! I am happy you found company for classes, despite it being the end of the year next week. And I'm even happier you will stay in touch with someone from school even during fourth year. I'm excited for visiting the Valley of Thorns and doing something beneficial for its people!"

Idia exhales with some relief and smiles at his brother.

"Yeah... me too. Thank you, Ortho."

Ortho smiles back with his big, yellow eyes.

"Why ask though? Do you have some concerns? Should I run a deep web background check?"

"N-no, that won't be necessary... I doubt you'd find anything on a person who doesn't exist online anyways. I was just wondering... does his behavior when he's around me seem weird to you in any way?"

In truth, though, Ortho would have no way of knowing what he's getting all worked up about. He didn't see Malleus touch his hair, or his face, or his smirk, or put him to sleep at any point. And it might be best that he doesn't. 

"Nothing out of the ordinary, really... You know I'd come at him first if I did, fufu -"

Idia laughs heartily. 

"Alright, I believe your judgement. Only a week left in this hole, and then 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 to survive at home."

"Oh, do you think they'll give us some super classy room?"

"Well... Gotta be better than our villa, right? It's supposed to be some badass castle. Some luxury I just might enjoy, 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦."

"Population of the Valley of Thorns is only around ten thousand people, out of which only five hundred live in the castle!

"Ooof... 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺... that doesn't sound comfortable."

"Well, if you saw the size of the thing on satelitte, you'd realize how few that is. The place is huge! Please promise you'll go for walks with me?"

"A-alright... if it's not too crowded, I will."

Ortho clenches his fist in victory. Idia is very happy to see him this hyped. After school, this should be his next big experience. His heart flutters in anticipation of the visit. Yes, only a week at home. And during this week, he is going to have to break the news to their parents. But he knows how it's going to go; father will be mad, mother will... well, not like she'll be able to do anything about it. But there's no way they're celebrating another birthday of Ortho's on his grave, not if he can do anything about it, and just this time, he can. Maybe he can get Malleus to show up at home, or at least have him send a funky formal invitation to his place. The latter just might get father of his back without much fuss... Hell, he's not a minor anymore. Professional work is good enough of an excuse to stay away from home. And work for a royal house? Hell, yes. Checkmate, father.

"Let's play, then, brother!"

"Give me a minute. Please set up the console."

Ortho levitates towards the high shelf to grab their collection of retro cartridges, and Idia reaches for his desk to grab Gao-Gao Dragon kun. Malleus was online just five minutes ago. His pixelated baby dragon slouches up and down with a gift he sent to Idia. A growth cookie, which slows the sleep bar depletion by 60%. Humor, from this guy? Idia smiles. He picks the very best power-up from his inventory, a heart-shaped cookie which slows the depletion of the attention bar by a full 100%. Happy with the tease he pulled, Idia lays the tamagotchi aside and joins his brother on the floor for some much needed quality brother time.

\--------------

Having successfully sent out a cheeky sleep-suspense cookie to Idia's Gao-Gao, and trying not to dwell on the tamagotchi idly expecting a return gift, Malleus places his pocket dragon on his night stand. Finally, all of his daily duties are complete and he is ready to practice the new composition. He was hoping to have Shroud for an evening in his own room with some music, but he got so caught up in talking to the boy over tea and cake that he, of course, didn't even notice the time. Malleus is well aware that he is already a poor enough dorm leader, so having a tea party in the commons after everyone else has been scared off to their rooms by Lilia just in time for curfew wouldn't look so good on him. Thus he didn't quite get what he wanted. However, the very next day he realized that an even better course of action would be to perhaps present a more familiar musical piece. So, today he went to the library after his classes for the sole purpose of research and preparation. Skimming through numerous music books, he also realized that after so long, he feels the urge to play a new tune. Granted, very few music pieces of fae origin are unknown to him so a composition from an entirely different culture is a welcome change. He took his sweet time before the Diasomnia evening role call, and explored some of the works penned by humans. Specifically, by a certain human who hails from 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 isles. So here he is with the music book he found - taking it out of his briefcase, Malleus inspects the first pages. Finally deciding on a specific sheet, an excerpt called "𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘖𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴", he places the book on his coffee table, open. He takes out his cello out of its polished, heavy-looking ornate case from behind his homely dragon statue and takes it back to the couch. He sits and, taking in the notes for a good minute, sighs in a somewhat tired manner and starts playing. 

𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦, Malleus Draconia, the next king, no, the first king of the Valley of Thorns, weaves a human song across the strings of his black, ornate cello. Alone and lonely in this room, as in any other, with a dragon carved into the head of the instrument, concentrated, he repeats, and repeats, and repeats the yearning melody. Finally, as he gazes through the tall window in his room into the night of the isolated reality their dorm exists in, he is somewhat satisfied with his performance and decides to take a break. Just in time to hear a familiar knock pattern on his door.

"Come in."

Lilia peeks inside, then slithers in and closes the door behind him.

"Took you a long while to finish that."

"Tsk. You were listening?"

"Of course, I thought I heard an unfamiliar tune. Quite pretty, though, I have to say.

"Hm... Yes. I like it."

"Your taste in music is as refined as ever. Even back in the day where you couldn't buckle your shoes on your own."

"I wonder when the day will come when I'll finally hear the end of it."

"Ah, sorry, sorry... It's really tough to stop myself. Please bear with me at least until the coronation. Only nine more years, after all. After that, I promise you can have me impaled if I joke about your childhood days ever again, fu ~ fufufu"

Malleus frowns.

"I will never understand how you can joke about it so easily."

"Oh come on, live a little. You are not in a very good mood today. May I know why? I'm all sonar."

"Nothing...in particular. Just the usual blues."

Lilia laughs. The soft, blue flames of Idia's hair flash before Malleus' eyes.

"Honestly, you changed so much during this semester. Using human 𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘴 in abundance, I see, I see..."

A slight smile draws over Malleus' expression.

"Nine years is too long."

"Is it...? Well... it might be, but... You'll be spending five away from home, bathing in the lava springs. That dream holiday you always wanted."

The Boiling Peak, a remote mountain very far north from the center of the Valley, is a renowned sanctuary of the dragon fairies. No, that is far from the holiday Malleus always wanted. A part of him wishes to finally subdue the whims and bits of his true form, while another wants to honor his grandmother's wish to return and meditate in the place he was born in, to a mother which failed to nurture his egg self to the very basics of living a nigh immortal fairy life - this arrangement is now a part of a lengthy process of preparation for his throne ascension, scheduled to take place on a winter solstice nine years from now. Even now, as the new era in the Valley is about to begin, he is getting ready, mingling with the human folk, opening the doors of negotiations and diplomacy that were scarcely present in his - now fully shaped 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺, before. For full three years after his venture to NRC ends, a whole new endeavor will be on his plate - peppered with the introductory visits to the Rose Kingdom, Land of Pyroxene, Afterglow Savanna, Land of Hot Sands and a few minor countries - all with a singular goal in mind, to demistify and simplify his appearance as a leading figure of the country human parents scare their children to bed with. Not to mention the grand ceremony of his grandmother's 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, followed by the throne being magically sealed with a powerful spell of hers, only to be undone by his freshly cooked tail coming back from the depths of the mountain and its literally boiling lava pools. Malleus's spine shivers. He is neither afraid nor insecure, it's simply something that must be done, but the entire ordeal just seems so... tedious. Just thinking about the things to come before the coronation takes place - makes him want to crawl into the school's catacombs and never come out - nice and cool, and readily available. His very bones scream "boring". Though, he absolutely mustn't show it. He ponders arranging sightseeing to all the new places he's about to visit...

"Hey, I'm talking to you here. I know you are not enamored with the time to come but once you're king, all the time in this world will be yours. We'll be there to help you with it, you know. Well, except for the part with the lava springs, that one is on you."

"I am aware. Thank you, Lilia."

Malleus plucks the strings of his cello absentmindedly. Lilia makes himself comfortable in the armchair across from Malleus, hanging his legs over the armrest.

"Besides, as far as I can see, you're already having your own fun. And not even sharing with me! Shame. Sitting here all alone, thinking about him."

Malleus looks at Lilia somewhat surprised.

"You mean...you don't mean Shroud, right?"

"Who else? We've been here for almost three full years and only now you take an interest in someone in this way? Do you take me for a fool here?"

"I...I am not sure I follow."

"Come on. Silver and Sebek had about 70% less issues with finding you during the past month. Mostly due to the fact that you're always accompanied by a walking blue pyre -"

"I don't suggest calling him that -"

"Oh, we sensitive about the topic now?"

Malleus stops, because he realizes he's playing into Lilia's hands. Albeit, too late, as testified by the cheeky smile on his face.

"He is... an interesting companion to have around."

Lilia laughs. 

"Listen up here. I'll give you that, with the advisory contract you've got yourself covered, to an extent. But just... don't overdo it."

Malleus' face reddens very, very slightly. Overdo it? All sorts of images flood into his mind, but he leans on the cello and decides to play it cool.

"And if you do overdo it, against my well intended advice, just do me a favor and keep it secret, however you can. You're a smart boy. Lest the queens impales me before you ever get the chance to do so, ha."

"So... I have your blessings?"

"Not in the slightest. This comes out? I am now old and incompetent, never saw it coming. Though honestly, I did. Right from the moment I saw you two unconsciocus in that puddle of black goo. The thing I didn't see coming is the boy handling you himself before I appeared, and in this error of judgement, I may have pushed this rock down the hill."

"You... saw this? How come?

Lilia picks himself up from the chair with a smirk and heads for the door.

"I raised you, young man, I can tell the type of companionship you crave. Your total opposite, yet your equal. Presumed, but, so it seems now, not impossible. And you found it in a human, no less. That, and this."

Lilia shakes his smartphone towards Malleus, who is just completely confused now.

"It scans the sounds and tells you the source of the song. Nifty, hehe. Guess what I found on the composer? Isle of Lamentation. Very subtle, Malleus."

He opens the door and is about to leave.

"Wait."

"Huh?"

"There's this movie you should watch."

"A movie?"

"Called Moon Child. It has some... human representations of vampires in it. You might like it."

"Fufufu... a movie... oh you... I am interested. But Malleus. Heed my warning."

Lilia winks and leaves, closing the door behind him. Malleus lets out another tired sigh. Seriously though, what is he even thinking right now. He gets up to pack the cello back in its case. The blue haired boy, a living flame, Idia Shroud... an exquisitely talented human. But, shy and withheld. Talking back from the safety of his room, yet cornered so easily in a face to face interaction. Malleus leans against his wardrobe. His chest hurts. A vivid image of him exhaling a wave of green flames into the blue ones settles in his mind. The two intertwine, yet never mix... Well... all the better, he thinks. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 

Pulling his hair up with a swipe, Malleus realizes his nails are sharp. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸... He best shower immediately to calm down. He heads into his bathroom and, arranging the uniform meticulously on the hanger, notices a small piece of paper falling out of the pocket of his trousers. Of course. His head spins. How could he possibly oversee the fact that the boy obviously 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳. His eye stares back at him from the scrap, unseeing. Malleus looks up into the bathroom mirror. His eyes are nothing like the one in the drawing right now. The usual white of his eyeballs is fully engulfed in the green of the irises, and the pupils tightened into barely noticeable vertical slits. He looks away while rubbing his forehead, where the black growths seemingly take even more place than usual. Dropping the paper on his nightstand, he quickly enters the shower and blasts cold water straight on top of his head. Icy cold needles pang all over his body, but he feels mentally ease. Idia Shroud... Idia Shroud... What would he do? Teasingly look at him from the side with his zig-zagged smile? Warming up water to lukewarm, he washes his face and his body quickly and gets out of the shower. Deciding to let his tail go rampant for tonight and dressing into his black nightgown, he flicks the lights off and dips among the purple bed covers. A single candle emanating greenish, but warm light remains lit on the nightstand. He turns the offending piece of paper face-down and takes Gao-Gao, settling himself into a comfortable position lying on his side. He breathes in heavily and heads into the inventory to feed his dragon-baby. There's an unopened gift waiting for him over there, and he navigates to it like his life depends on it. And it's...a full, black heart. Yes, he is 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 of the meaning of the heart symbol. And, it's a super rare item... The animated icon pulsates before his eyes, and his own heart skips a beat. Shroud. The taunting little bastard. He puts the tamagotchi back in its place a little too forcefully, grabbing the collar of his nightgown with the other hand, trying to give himself more breathing space.

Now it's really not good. An annoying itch crawls down his spine, and uncomfortable heat builds up between his legs. Curling up on his side, he sees the white light flashing before his eyes. Oh, to share a moment in the flames with... Suppressing his thoughts entangled with the blue flame and pressing his face into the pillow aggressively, Malleus' hand heads south to the slit in his pelvis. It trails down the black growths which line the opening to his insides, helps spread it open, exposing the hard member of his to the cold air of the room. Sour about this turn of events, but unable and unwilling to stop himself, he presses it against his body and rubs it against the boney ridges lined up from the now barely visible blemish that was his navel and below. He summons the extra heat to his hand, wanting more, 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥. His body shudders in answer to the pressure he applies at the very bottom around the opening. This needs to end, 𝘯𝘰𝘸. He grips the source of his utter shame hard and tunes everything out, and only his clawed fingers and frantic arm movement remain. In a split second, he finally falls over the edge and the whiteness before his eyes is dissolving in the rhythm of his stabilizing breathing. 

Keeping his eyes closed, definitely not wanting to see the mess he's made, he snaps the thing away into the void and rolls over to his stomach exhausted, hugging the pillows. Malleus is sure he's out of his mind. No, wait, he is certainly feeling better now. It's perfectly explicable. But these things are usually done in company. But how could he... alright. No mentioning this to anyone. Not now, not ever. He's just going to pretend this never happened. He takes his tamagotchi once again and stares at the item of affection. This insignificant little thing, the drumming 8bit icon of a heart, it makes him feel less lonely. Head half-buried in his pillow, as if scared of facing it, he now gently puts the dragon egg back in its place. He thinks of Idia's gentle sleeping face and the pulsating blue flames framing his body. An image as if taken out from a dream. Except he gets to see the dream, and live it... Breathing almost peacefully now, the last thing to do after a long day is to softly succumb to the fatigue which now, for the first time in forever, seems to hurt less, and feels less empty...


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Malleus invites himself to one place, but also invites Idia to another.

The very next morning, while exiting his dorm through the mirror and trying not to drown in a river of students crawling on campus, Idia spots Malleus' back heading up the stairs towards the lecture building. Working up the courage by taking a deep breath, he dodges people left and right up the stairs. Finally catching up to him, Idia announces his presence by nudging Malleus' arm with his tablet spelling out 'good morning'. Malleus had sensed him prior, but decided not to look too eager. In fact, he tries hard to stay more composed than usual. 

"Shroud. Good morning to you too."

"I... have a favor to ask."

"Oh? If it's something I can help with, I will."

"Could you... send some sort of formal invitation for our summer arrangement to my home? My relationship with my family is ˢᵒᵐᵉʷʰᵃᵗ ugly, and it would help me have physical backing... no, actually, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 which I will be giving as a reason to not be at home... for two months. I uh... expect them to be surprised."

Malleus raises an eyebrow, then crosses his arms, thinking. Idia looks at him with a slightly worried frown. 

"I... could arrange an envoy with a smaller retinue to visit your home tomorrow. Do you think your family would rather have jewels or delicacies?"

"The... wha... en... envoy??? ᴬʳᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ᶜʳᵃᶻʸ I j-just want you to send A LETTER? Please? No envoys, no retinues, no jewels? Just a simple letter informing them about our agreement!"

"That would be difficult. You're putting me in a difficult position."

"You can't send a...simple letter?"

"It would be inappropriate. I have never so much as made an introduction to your esteemed family, if I am to address them with a simple letter, it would bring me dishonor."

Idia looks at him disheartened. Malleus makes a slightly panicked expression in return, then gives in, his eyes rolling. 

"Alright... just a messenger, with a letter, and an assortment of gifts. I won't accept anything less."

Idia exhales in relief and clenches his fist, followed with a signature Idia Shroud asymmetrical, big smile. 

"T-thank you!"

Malleus stares at him bewildered, with his mouth hanging open a bit. Idia suddenly realizes what he probably looks like right now and shrinks back to his jacket.

"I... I will go now. Gotta c-change for the flying class. B-be seeing you ~"

He ducks around Malleus who keeps staring at him, then pulls his hood up and starts walking away tentatively, as if on egg shells.

"Shroud."

"Huh?"

"Your first class today is Alchemy." 

Idia stops.

"A-aaaaaaaah... ᵂᵃⁱᵗ. Why do you remember that?"

"I never see you come this way on Wednesdays."

Both stand, staring at each other for a moment. If the awkwardness in the air was any thicker, they could cut it with a knife. Thankfully, Idia is a master of evasion.

"I'll just... take the longer path to the lab. Yes. P-please don't be late because of me."

Saying this, he shoves his hands into his pockets and storms away. 

Malleus sighs, defeated, rubs his face as if to gather the focus he was obviously lacking and takes one last look at the flames following the hooded figure. He then goes back on his way to the castle for morning lectures.

\-----------------

Idia stuffs the last of his plush toys from the shelves into the suitcase. With books and games safely packed, that concludes the clunkiest part of the luggage. He looks around. Due to the unconventional nature of him and his brother at this school, he never shared the room with other people, and he is thankful for it. Apparently, the only other time he will have to come back to this room is for a few days before the next school year starts, and only to decide a topic for his thesis with his designated professor and allocate the position of dorm leader to another student. Strange, he thinks, how time flies when you're occupied with good games and good manga. 

Speaking of which, the new anime he's watching is airing a new episode today. He's going to need to bring a stronger receiver with him for the summer... And something to read... play... draw... In fact, a little bit of everything. He doesn't intend to be all that cut off from the world for his entire holiday. Who knows how the provider company negotiations will go. He imagines showing his face in meetings and wonders if he should maybe craft a helmet which projects his face... Would that be 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦..? Maybe if he let Malleus talk... But there's no way, this is what he called him for. Right, maybe his own voicebank from VDC could do the talking. That's valid. Suddenly he's sitting at a lengthy, gothic table in his thoughts, people on both sides... And Malleus sitting at the head of it all in a dark blanket-like cloak, his head and horns wrapped in someone else's skin ominously, bearing much resemblance to the statue of the Witch of Thorns he sees on campus every day. He laughs at the thought internally, but then swallows the lump stuck in his throat, sincerely hoping that 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 -

Idia snaps from his revelry, concluding that everything is indeed packed now. Except for Orhto's bodies and his clothing, but Ortho promised to take care of that later. He also concluded that he truly knows next to nothing about the Valley - save what he was told about the capital, the surrounding natural points of interest, and that the kind of food that most fairies like is definitely not going to be tasty. 

The tablet 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. Idia's instant reaction was a quiet "𝘰𝘩 𝘯𝘰" followed by him grabbing the thing off the desk and realizing that it indeed is his worst nightmare - father is calling. He breathes in 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 deeply, deciding he'd rather deal with it now, than later, when the anime is on. Quickly biting off a piece of art paper tape and sticking it over the tablet's camera, he picks up the call. 

"Yes?"

"𝘐𝘥𝘪𝘢. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘈 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺."

Shit, already? Malleus wasn't joking about 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸.

"Yes. Well aware."

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺? 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 - 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭?"

Idia's gut wrenches at the mention of his mother and the avalanche of anxiety-inducing questions.

"𝘐𝘥𝘪𝘢? 𝘐𝘥𝘪𝘢! 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘰𝘯."

"I-I can't, it's broken."

"𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘺."

A few seconds pause ensue, and Idia knows - his father is hacking into his tablet, trying to turn the camera on remotely. That trick won't work on him twice. Good luck hacking the stupid paper tape. 

"Fruitless, father, the lens is stuck. I have to repair it."

"𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴."

"Mother will never be pleased again."

"𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘰𝘺."

Whatever. He must talk back - stand up for himself, his gut wrenching or not. He has the right to. No, he 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 must. And above that - he has the right to spend summer on a business appointment. He has a rEpUtAtIoN of the young master of the House to uphold. So he will do 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

"I will see you in two days, father."

"𝘏𝘮𝘱𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭."

Father hangs up. Idia leans against the desk, digging his nails into its edge to no avail. Nausea builds up in him. He bends over the desk and grabs an energy drink from his stash, trying to wash away the sourness in his mouth with the sweet acidity of the liquid. The lower eyelid of his right eye twitches uncontrollably. He grimaces hard, closing his eyes, trying to make it subside. After rubbing his face for a bit, the twitching seems to stop. Idia looks at all the contents of his room boxed up on the floor. He might just miss this place. Here, he controlled the surroundings, much before he was a dorm leader too. And even among all the people, he felt some... safety? Privacy? Whatever it was, it will be gone forever soon. 

That's enough. Not another breakdown, he's done with that. He shakes his head violently and his flaming hair flickers with distress. He moves the biggest holoscreen from his desk towards his bed and turns on notifications for Crispycake streaming service. He checks the drawer of his desk and realizes he's all out of snacks. Jeez... Should he go get some from the vending machine on campus? His tablet rings again. 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵. That wasn't enough? Wait. Malleus? Calling him? Wtf? 

"Uh... hello?"

"Shroud. I am in front of your dormitory mirror."

"A-alright?"

"Will you come 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱?"

Did Malleus ever tell him that he is going to come today? No, he would just yeet himself inside of his room magically, as usual. What's with this..? Actually, never mind, no point on even trying to figure out the fairy's thoughts like this. He'll just use this opportunity to go out and get snacks. He snatches his jacket and jumps into his sneakers in a split second.

"I'll be right there."

Idia hangs up. Malleus exhales, satisfied. Tenth attempt or not, he managed to actually call him. He pockets the phone and looks at his book. He thinks about Lilia's words. He needs to be mindful of his actions. Therefore -

Several Heartslabyul students burst out of the mirror talking 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 loudly. As Malleus watches them go out of the hall and away, Idia pops out of the Ignihyde mirror. 

"H-here I am..."

"Shroud."

Idia notices Malleus' bothered expression, obviously induced by the loud bunch. He frowns.

"Ah... I hate that..."

"Impolite. Impudent."

"I-I... well, I couldn't agree more."

Idia sways his pocketed hands left and right, as weirded out as always. Malleus just looks at him silently for a few seconds.

"S-ˢᵒ, ᵗᵒ ʷʰᵃᵗ ᵗᵒ ᴵ owe this visit?"

"It is a bit abrupt, but... I was hoping to spend the afternoon at your place, if you would have me. Due to the delicate... nature of my attendants, my own room isn't exactly a peaceful place right now. I promise not to intrude on whatever you planned to do for the rest of the day. I brought my own entertainment."

Malleus crosses his arms, waving his book. Idia looks at him surprised. He chuckles. 

"Well, I am watching anime... but you're free to stay. No 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴, though? Here I was so sure you've settled on that as your ᵈᵉᶠᵃᵘˡᵗ ᵗʸᵖᵉ ᵒᶠ ᵉⁿᵗʳᵃⁿᶜᵉ, fuhihi." 

His eerie grin crawls onto his face, his eyes almost glowing from under his brows. Malleus makes a sad little, guilty smile, and scratches his chin, looking away. 

"I debated doing that but... I wasn't exactly certain what would be more inconspicuous."

"To be honest... I don't remember having anyone in my room, ever... Pretty sure that the dorm residents don't remember it either. ᵂᵒᵘˡᵈ'ᵛᵉ ᵇᵉᵉⁿ ᵍᵒˢˢⁱᵖ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʸᵉᵃʳ ᵃˡʳᵉᵃᵈʸ ⁱᶠ ᵗʰᵉʸ ˢᵃʷ ʸᵒᵘ ᶜᵒᵐᵉ ᵇᵉᶠᵒʳᵉ, ʸ'ᵏⁿᵒʷ. All spooks aside, you popping up your way might alert less NPCs. "

"N Pee Sees...?"

Idia bursts into laughter. 

"Sorry, sorry... 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. You know, people who have zero impact on your life whatsoever? There just to fill the background noise."

"𝘚𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨... always gets me."

"Sorry, seriously, it's nothing important. By the way, I need to grab something from the shop. Will you go with me?"

"Lead the way."

They head out of the mirror building. 

"Actually... I was wondering. Some of the equipment I need to bring to the Valley, I would normally need to carry it home first. If you could take it with you when you leave... It would be a big help."

"Is it something fragile?"

Idia nods. 

"Ortho's pod. He has his regular one at home, this one was meant for school only anyways but... it will come in handy. Plus some of the tools... Oh, but don't worry, the cases levitate. One only needs to navigate them on their way."

"Hm... best leave that to Lilia then."

"Thank you... I'll take it all with me on Saturday. L-let's all meet before we leave."

Malleus gives a grunt of approval. Idia side-eyes him, surprised. 

"Shroud."

"H-huh?"

"You talk so clearly about things that mean to you."

"I-is t-that so..."

"Yes. It is undeniable."

"ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ˢᵒ ᵇˡᵘⁿᵗ..."

"Naturally. One must speak their mind whenever they can, to the boundaries of civility."

"I-ᴵ ʷⁱˢʰ..."

"You are always forthright with me. I value this."

"U-uh... c'mon, ᵃʳᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ᵖʳᵃⁱˢⁱⁿᵍ ᵐᵉ...?

"FIREFLY SQUID-SENPAI, AROWANA-SENPAI - Hellooooo ~"

Shit, Idia thinks, Floyd Leech. Malleus performs a not very enthusiastic wave at, what Idia realizes are, both the Leech brothers, who are obviously in a hurry, and a good deal away from them, heading for the mirror chamber. Floyd waves with all of his might as he follows Jade and his polite smile aimed at greeting Malleus and himself. Idia waves at them meekly, thankful for whatever errand Azul sent them on now. He sighs. 

"The Leech brothers are as scary as ever..."

"If you ask me, Ashengrotto is scarier."

"Is he...? A-anyways, wait for me here, please."

Idia enters the shop like a cat, without even opening the door fully. Malleus watches the trail of his hair disappear. He doesn't even have time to scope his surroundings when Idia comes out again.

"Done." 

"Already, huh?"

"In and out. Clean and simple."

Malleus smiles at him. They head back to the mirror hall in silence. And it's not awkward either, Idia notices. 

"I'll meet you in your room, then."

Malleus disappears, and Idia returns to the dorm on foot. There are only a few people hanging out in the commons, as usual. He heads straight to his room, trying not to act too sus. Luckily, there's no way for any of them to know what is exactly happening in 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 right now. Imagine if mind-reading was a thing. He opens his room, only to find Malleus already made himself comfortable on the foot of the bed, his back against the wall, his crazy long legs crossed. Idia approaches his desk to unbag the snack loot and prepare the stream.

"So, uh... sorry for the mess. The entire room is boxed."

"Worry not, mine doesn't look much different right now." 

"I don't think you'd be interested in this show. So... You'll be okay?"

"Oh, absolutely. Pretend I am not even here."

Like hell he can do that. He already feels shivers shooting up his spine, knowing who is sitting just there, right next to him. He grabs some cushions and decides to nest on the floor, relaxing his back against the bed. He pulls his hair out of his way and onto the bed. 

Malleus raises his eyebrow. Whatever Idia is watching has started. And all the soft, flaming hair in the prettiest shades of blue is spread out right next to him. He wills his attention back to the edible plants botany manual, and despite already having prepared at least five different jokes on account of Lilia's cooking he just 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 concentrate on anything besides the flame right now and...  
Oh, look, blue rosemary. This is... slightly uncomfortable. Breathe. Breathe, focus. Blue rosemary. Blue? Turn the page. Turn. His gaze falls on the very small fraction of Idia's neck visible right there where it rests against the mattress. Almost as if feeling the stare, Idia turns towards Malleus, whose eyes only manage to move away as far as the screen, but that's... just far enough, apparently. Malleus stares at the anime like there's no tomorrow.

"U-uh... Malleus? Would you like to watch this with me?"

"I... can I join?"

"It's episode 7 but... I don't mind rewatching it with you from the beginning."

"How long is an episode?"

"Only around 20 minutes. Don't worry."

"I...I'd like that. Thank you."

Idia gets up. He starts setting up the screen to a different position. Malleus swallows the dry nothingness of his mouth. Picking up the extra blanket from one of the boxes, Idia climbs up onto the bed and sits next to Malleus, hugging his knees. 

"You sure you're okay..?"

"It's just that... this book isn't all too interesting."

Idia looks at the book.

"Didn't take you for a cook. They don't even allow you to cook, do they?"

"It's not that they are trying to stop me, particularly. It's just not very common to find a prince in the kitchen. Maybe I'm just a little bit desperate, Lilia cannot cook to save his head. He just... doesn't care about the taste."

Idia chuckles.

"So that's why the mandrake cake tasted like chum."

"You... you didn't like it? It was rather tasty... Also, Sebek made that one."

"Erm... well... maybe the taste just doesn't sit with me. Oh, wait."

Idia gets up, grabs a snack bag from the energy drink box and hands it to Malleus.

"Here, you might like this."

Malleus blinks as he realizes that it's cold. The bag is not too big. Several wafer ice cream bites seem to be inside. Should he take it? He declined to eat it so many times already, plus he hasn't had any in a while... Eh, he'll do it. He opens the foil and carefully munches on one of the ice cream sticks. Idia is almost surprised at the delighted face Malleus makes. He sits back next to him. Malleus' world goes wonky. The triangles all around him start spinning in themselves. On the bed headboard... the carpet... the shelf...

"H-hey, how is your ᵇᵃᵇʸ ᵈʳᵃᵍᵒⁿ doing?"

"Huh. Hm, let me see. Would be a good time to feed it..."

Malleus takes out his tamagotchi. Even the buttons are triangular. 

"Did you make good use of the item I sent you...?"

Malleus' heart skips. This shouldn't be happening now. He's losing it. He snacks on the remaining ice cream stick.

"Actually, I... don't intend to. It is a very rare item. I want to keep it."

Idia laughs.

"You a hoarder? Damn... Who'da thunk... you have potential..."

Malleus rubs his face, trying to get a grip.

"Hey, Shroud..."

"Hm?"

"I'm... sorry for being so secretive about... things."

"Eh... We all have our secrets."

"That we do, but... we don't all suffer for someone else's secrets."

"I... look forward to hearing what you have to say, then."

A short silence ensues, in which Malleus finally lets go of his regular composure. 

"Shroud?"

"Huh?"

"Will you go out with me?"

This isn't happening. No way he just -

"O-out?"

"On a date."

"L-like a real d-date? N-ⁿᵒʷ?"

"Some time when you come to the Valley. We'll plan."

Idia breaks into a cold sweat, blushing aggressively. Why the rollercoaster of emotions, today... That one time he tried watching 𝘺𝘢𝘰𝘪 flashes before his eyes and - NO DON'T THINK ABOUT THAT IDIOT -

"H-how does one date... a prince?"

"Well... away from everyone's eyes, I suppose..."

"T-that sounds kinda nice."

Idia pauses to process his own words. He just agreed to go out with this - this fairy guy who looks like he could eat him any second now and - wait, he isn't misinterpreting this?

"Okay, but a real date, like... ʳᵒᵐᵃⁿᵗⁱᶜ?

"Hm... any kind of date you like." 

"A night d-date... dead of the night... When O-Ortho is asleep..." 

"Dead of the night date it is, then."

"Ok."

"Alright."

They stare at each other with visible confusion.

"So, u-uh, let's watch now..?"

"A-alright."

Idia starts the stream. They only manage to get to finish the first six episodes before Lilia calls Malleus. Not that either one of them saw anything - Malleus, whose sight was wonky and a blur, and Idia, whose head and thoughts were equally messy. And he didn't even manage to watch the accursed seventh episode before Ortho comes back to help him finish packing up. One thing that was certainly packed up was his brain, all fried and ready to be blasted all the way to the moon.

\-----------------

Saturday comes. The entire campus is buzzing with people and luggage. Some time around noon, Ortho is sitting on a pile of their equipment, meticulously boxed up. A crowd of Valley staff members is moving in and out of the mirrors and carrying the last of their prince's possessions. In the distance, Sebek screams at the carriers of Malleus' precious dragon room decor. Lilia and Malleus approach Ortho to greet him.

"Little Shroud."

"Ortho-kun!"

"Malleus Draconia-san, Lilia Vanrouge-san! We're going home!"

Lilia smiles at Ortho warmly.

"We are. Are you homesick?"

"A little! Though, brother isn't very happy about us going back..."

"So I have heard. Well, not to worry, we'll be seeing you in a week."

"I can't wait! ~ Malleus Draconia-san, here is the equipment my brother wanted you to take."

"Ah, yes. Lilia. Please listen to the instructions on how to... move this package." 

Lilia chuckles. Ortho presents the command panel on the big metal casing.

"Here are the controls! And here is the GPS tag. The box will follow anyone who wears it. Pretty simple!"

"I see, I see. Simple indeed. Well, worry not, it's in good hands. We're good to go."

Malleus looks around. 

"By the way, is your brother coming?"

"He should have been here already. Let me contact him."

Idia emerges from Ignihyde's mirror carrying his backpack, a trail of their luggage hovering behind him. 

"Here he is!"

Idia notices the three of them hanging out with the equipment and swallows. Just seeing Malleus' face again is enough to have him start changing colors like a traffic light. He slows his walk, but, eventually makes it over to them. 

"H-hi..."

Lilia grins.

"Idia-kun. Ready to go?"

"Y-yeah..."

Malleus smiles at Idia slightly embarrassed, but brimming with confidence on the inside. 

"A nice day to go home."

"A...nice... uhh."

"I won't be saying any goodbyes, we'll meet before you know it."

"Y-yeah. I... yes, very soon."

"Speaking of which," Lilia interrupts, "we should get going. Sebek just escorted your decor through the mirror."

Lilia makes a few steps towards the portal. Malleus nods. 

"See you next Saturday, children! I'll be meeting you at the border personally. Until then, fufu ~"

Malleus approaches traffic light Idia, who is now stuck in red. 

"I... Please look forward to staying in my home."

Idia gets really flustered. His eyes almost sparkle with tears of shame, aware of the state he's in.

"I-I will..."

Malleus steps away and goes after Lilia, quite literally glowing in his smile and a tiny wave until he turns and disappears in the wobbly liquid surface of the mirror taking him back to the Valley of Thorns. 

As they go through, arriving in the main courtyard of the castle, bustling with their luggage being sorted in between rows of guards greeting them back, Lilia stops and looks at Malleus with the cheekiest smile.

"Made a move already? For someone being so lax about time, you sure didn't waste any."

Malleus looks sideways, pretending not to have heard it, then chuckles ever so slightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slowly losing my mind writing this :) If I spent as much time writing, as I do thinking about writing, where would we be now lmao


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Malleus and Idia come home to rest and prepare. And suffer a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters keep getting longer and longer, should I apologize or celebrate? Anyways I did a lot of research for this one... as I am writing locations which aren't present in the game now. I hope it gets better as I go.

Last of the Shroud brothers' luggage hovers through the mirror portal which closes itself behind them. Idia finds himself on the usual homeward warp point, an empty hill on the isle, slapped face-on by the warm air which smells of the sea. The wind is still cooling his face off, and the time he takes to stuff all the unruly hair under his hood gives him an opportunity to rearrange his thoughts as well. Their life-long butler, a grey-haired man in his early sixties has been standing a few steps away, expecting the portal to open for some time, by the looks of it. Idia looks down the hill and into the basin overrun by olives that represents the most common landscape on the island. Olives, shrubbery, rocks, and a villa made of stone, standing tall on the opposite side of the isle, on an elevated plateau overlooking the sea. This was the home of the Shrouds, with not a single place of happiness, Idia always thought, save for mother's pomegranate garden, now too standing decrepit. 

"Welcome home, young master. Master Ortho."

With a slight bow, his hand over his chest, butler greets the brothers. Ortho flies into the hug of the old man.

"Mister! We're back ~"

Whenever they come home for vacation, Ortho performs the very same things his previous self did; running into the embrace of their childhood guardian being one of them. And every time, the warm light in the eyes of the man trembles with sorrow. This place, more than any other, reminds Idia of the fact that his brother's frail, little body lies six feet under for over three years now, and that he will never outgrow calling their butler "mister".

He approaches and joins the hug, part for solace, part for missing the man himself.

"It's good to see you, Haros."

With a few words exchanged about the considerable amount of luggage they brought, the group heads home. The estate isn't far, the Isle of Lamentation being slightly less than a kilometer in diameter. But the walk, even peppered with Ortho's excitement, brings a familiar sense of unease to Idia's bones. A large door on the two-story villa opens to welcome them inside from the courtyard. In the atrium stands the current master of the House, with two maids at the ready to greet them. As per standard procedure - upon their arrival, casings with Idia's belongings he doesn't want disturbed light up in red, while everything else that is to be tended by the staff lights in the color green. The two ladies greet them in unison, then disappear with the allocated luggage. 

The current head of the family - Idia's father - is a man who Idia undeniably takes after. Save for the flaming hair of shoulder length, gaunt face, and tired eyes devoid of the usual golden shine due to the circumstances his life has brought upon him, his son is a spitting image of his younger self, something Idia is aware of, but tries to suppress remembering as much as possible. 

"Son."

Idia approaches his father when gestured towards. He just has to play it cool and he can escape to his room in no time.

"Father... hi."

"It's good to have you home."

"Y-yeah... thanks."

"Listen. Before you say anything, I've... had enough time to think about your summer engagement."

Aaaaaaaaaand here we go. Also, way to choose words, father? Idia rubs his face, blinking himself into focus.

"I was too hard on you. It's just that... You know, this stranger came here on Wednesday with a letter and... You could've given me a heads up, at least. I... You're away for school, and now you're away for vacation as well. This place still needs you. Needs Ortho, in... whichever shape or form. We need you."

Oh shit. Father is getting mushy. 

"Yes, I know, you're 18, it's a major opportunity. Most of all, you should enjoy the outside world while you can."

Idia looks at his feet, slowly letting his guard down. Why does this have to be so hard? His father walks up to him and takes him into a hug. There isn't much left to do but to hug him back, truly. Idia recalls how often they used to do this way back. Hugs for winning in board games. Hugs for assembling both useless and handy mechanisms. Hugs for being bullied in school. Even though this gesture cannot possibly alleviate the pain built up between them, the smallest of rocks falls off Idia's heart. 

"But truly, whatever did you do to get yourself in the position of royal advisor to crown prince of the Valley of Thorns, exactly? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 strangest realm of this world? Fairies? Notoriously inept for anything that's not magic incarnate?"

Idia grins innocently.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 strangest? Really? Our hair is on fire, father. And if you must know, crown prince just walked up to me and said something along the lines of "I need to shop from T-Bay."

Idia's dad looks at him half-confused, then chuckles.

"What's he going to shop for, fairy dust? By the way, where did Ortho go?"

"I think he buzzed off to mom's room while you were making your little speech here."

"Hm. Well, you best go unpack. Oh, and, please visit mother later, will you?"

Father heads back to his workshop, leaving Idia to his red-lit luggage. Alone in the atrium, he looks around at the ever-changing interior decoration. Though the villa was old and originally built with columns and friezes of the Doric order, father keeps upgrading the place in contemporary style. What might otherwise be considered kitsch, in this place, even Idia could notice, is a tasteful blend of conserving the old but shedding a new light on it... quite literally. The place is lit in a specific shade of neon blue, and if anything, it makes the obnoxious blue flames of the residents' hair pop less. While Idia immodestly considers himself an expert in anthropomorphic design, father is definitely a master of many design types in engineering. The House's upgrades aren't in looks only. Idia brings up the command interface and in a second, the numerous metal suitcases show themselves upstairs and into Idia's room. 

So, he's indeed back to this place. Well, it is what it is. Haros reappears - apparently, from his father's quarters, looking at him inquiringly. 

"Master would like you to choose the main course for today's lunch. We should let the kitchen know so it can be ready in time."

Hm, let's see... Something that's not cafeteria food or takeout would be nice, for a change.

"Say, roasted pork with pomegranate glaze? That works?"

"To my knowledge, it is possible. In case I am wrong, I will let you know immediately."

"Thanks."

The butler bows subtly and goes about his business. Idia heads to his room. 

The room - a large space with a single bed in the middle, surrounded by a sea of plushies and shelves full of collectibles, enriched with each vacation he comes home for, has long stopped being his safe haven, in its truest sense. Sure, it's a place for his precious collection, a place where he can code and tinker in peace, the ultimate repose spot with all the latest gadgets, but the walls in this entire house make him feel 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥, slow cooked, for the ultimate duty his legacy has in store for him. He throws his jacket in one of the armchairs, kicks his sneakers aside and faceplants onto the bed. Only then he notices an ornate wooden chest placed in between two desks. That's gotta be the thing Malleus sent. Of course father would have it placed in here. He jumps up and clicks the heavy iron mechanism open. Shit, shit shit - it's full of perfectly clear blue jewels, ranging from size of a walnut, to the size of a clenched fist. He literally drops his rear on the floor, trying to process this. Malleus is crazy, he's gotta be. In fact, he's gonna let him know. He fetches his tablet from the jacket, and takes a good shot of the jewels. He sends it, along with a message "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸".

Idia drops back onto the bed to tend to his Gao-gao. Malleus was last online this morning. So, before they left the campus. He lays the tamagotchi on the bed next to him. Wondering what Malleus is doing now... some princely stuff for sure. At the very least - thank fuck for his quiet surroundings. Maybe he can conjure answers to the real questions here in peace and quiet. For instance, what prompted the fairy prince to 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦, and hand in hand with that, why did Idia accept so easily? What are they gonna do, go on a midnight picnic? He never even took a girl out himself (not that he had any girl to invite, or that he had any illusions that such a girl would accept), and now he's about to pose as someone else's girl - holy shit, what is life even. Is it a prank? No way, a person such as Malleus is neither capable of pulling such a prank, nor, frankly, has any foreseeable motive for it. Has the pretty creature taken a liking to him? The thought seems surreal, but Idia isn't stupid - that would be the sole viable explanation at this point. Here they are - during the last month or so, he's had more face-to-face interaction in Malleus' company than in everyone else's for the entire year. 

The answer is actually right there, empirically tested. He just refreshed the messenger app for the tenth time in a minute. Sure, Malleus is probably genuinely busy, but, he could also be having some dragon-y fun right now. Without him. The thought strikes his gut, and it ties itself into a knot. Is this how it feels? Idia never really cared for a real person before... this way. Well, simping for Gakemo girls doesn't count - they are practically deities... ANYWAYS, time to nail his stupid, enamored head with something sharp, preferably 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘴 - 

Well, his life is oficially a true DND campaign now. He's a wizard. And he's in love with a dragon... holy fucking shit, fuck, fuck, fuck this life...   
He rolls over on his stomach and curls up tightly, wishing to disappear. Maybe he should look up the standard crush duration on the internet. Fuck. FUCK. He punches the mattress, sending helpless Gao-gao flying, and it lands on the carpet with a 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘥. Crap. Now he's gonna break his only viable source of info too -   
On his two feet and inspecting the tamagotchi thoroughly, he exhales with relief. He pets the plastic casing and puts it on the desk, to safety. He really, really needs a nap.

\-----------------

Malleus is sitting at the desk in his study in the tower leaned on his elbow, gazing through the open balcony into the fog. The sun is setting behind the sharp, rocky landscape which stretches for as far as his eye can see. Several piles of wildly colored parchment stand tall in front of him. Meetings, upon meetings, upon meetings to be scheduled for the next few days. Malleus wishes he could concentrate to get it over with, but he simply cannot. Every time he comes back to the castle, he just wishes there is a spell to sort and solve the little issues that never fail to pile up in his absence. Grandmother, of course, never as much as intends to meddle in the court business while he's away, and the fae are rarely in a hurry. So the issues simply 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 for him to come back during 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴. Now, he could, of course, let them sit and wait some more, but the moment he sees them piled up he simply cannot bear and has to resolve everything as fast as possible - else his free time would not quite feel so free. The "𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩", he can practically hear the Witch of Thorns say.

Twenty years ago or so, when Her Majesty formally had him sit on the council for the first time, followed by announcing her long-awaited retirement, she did say that this eagerness of his for 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 and 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 would be the end of him - lest he learns to contain it, for, after all, he's going to rule the kingdom for a very, very long time. The more issues he resolves, the more will keep coming, at a pace he will ultimately be unable to handle, until he succumbs - or so she keeps saying. He's already taking it easy, Malleus thinks. But this time, he has a good reason to rush them all, and out of his sight. He, of course, wants to be completely free for the visit of his 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵, his guarantee that the summer will be as entertaining as possible. 

A loud and fast paced door knock echoes through the study, and Malleus of course, knows there's only one person to interrupt at this time.

"Come in."

Sebek enters the room purposefully, as Sebek always does, and practically glows on his two feet as he delivers the message.

"Young Master! Her Majesty the Queen's aide is informing you that she will be present for tomorrow's solstice ritual, and that she is looking forward to meeting with you following your performance. The aide also remarked that you are likely to meet in the throne room!"

Malleus lands his forehead into his palms, his energy wilting away even further. He completely forgot that they usually come back just in time for the summer solstice. Last year, due to seasonal class adjustments, he managed to dodge the festivity by a single day, but this time he played right into it by the same amount. He looks at his clothing, realizing he is still sitting in his school slacks and white shirt. And tomorrow it's going to be tight leather, tighter leather, and laced up tight leather. He looks at Sebek, looks at the tasks piled in front of him, and with a deep inhale, stacks the parchment in four equal towers of no particular rhyme and reason, then leans back into his chair and crossing arms, looks at Sebek again.

"Will you see to it that my attire for tomorrow is ready?

Sebek straightens up even more, as if that is even possible, and his hair almost sparks with excitement.

"Of course, Young Master! 

"Excellent. Then, task number one, these four. For the council. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Take them. And... I'll be retiring for the night."

Malleus grabs his uniform jacket and pats Sebek on the shoulder on his way out, without sticking around for his usual overreaction. In the corridor to his right, a curved staircase following the outer wall of his tower takes him up to his bedroom. He glances over the massive stone rails to the floor below at the two minotaurs who stand guard to the two-story loft that make up his private quarters. Unsurprising, he thinks, but irrelevant. Upon entering the bedroom, he is happy to find everything in order, including the dragon statue that was keeping him company in his dorm room. 

Much like the lower floor of the tower is split into the private reception room and the library, or, as Malleus likes to think of them, function and aspiration, the upper floor was home to his inspiration, and inspiration only. The bath, his bed, his instruments, and a living corner is everything he allows into the top of his tower, a place where he's usually found, if found in the castle. On any other day he'd have servants help him change, but he is now at his nerves ends, so he dismissed everyone in advance and finally gets to enjoy solitude. In truth, a conversation with Lilia would be nice... especially after that snarky remark, but Malleus figures both Lilia and Silver could use some unwinding at home before they return to castle duty in less than a week. 

With the last ounce of his patience, Malleus unbuttons whatever of the school uniform is left on him and flicks his tail free. He gets into a pair of loose dark linen breeches, and ties the strap keeping them on his lean figure messily right above the scaled appendage. He grabs Gao-gao from his jacket before dropping it onto the back of the armchair, and then drops himself onto the ornate divan sofa, putting his legs up. All the furniture in his quarters is specifically crafted with his physique in mind, from the remarkably long and wide bedding, to the hollow spaces between seating surfaces and the backs of chairs and sofas. Much of the tower's original design he in fact owes to Lilia, who made sure to give practical creative input when the spire was added to the castle. It was built to formally acknowledge him as an heir to the throne of the dragon Queen, upon his return from the taxing, 30 year long "be reborn as you should or perish" trial in the The Boiling Peak. He remembers so little, but what little he does is nerve-racking. To never see the place again would be too soon, yet he is in for a reprise...

Malleus feeds his digital dragon-baby. Without 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, there's no way for him to replenish his inventory fast as usual. It's very easy to gather items via 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺, but the game, he remembers Idia's words, "punishes you for not using the friend feature". Malleus sighs at the idea of going back to caring for tamagotchi the same way he did before the got the second one. He feels spoiled. 

Back in Shroud's room, did he act too familiar? Was he too forward? He allowed himself to eat a human ice-cream snack, creamy, full of sugar. He knows full well that those loosen his behavior in... unforeseen ways. 

He cannot even remember that last birthday before he was sent for the dragon gauntlet, but Lilia would never stop retelling this story - he made Malleus a creamy cake, and Malleus loved it so much that he kept eating, and eating, until he ate it all. Naturally, he immediately lost it, unleashed his dragon form, tried flying away, his inexperienced, young tail got tangled up in the roots of big old tree, and he could only roll in the mud frantically until a whole squad came from the castle with nets to hold him down. The end result was a square mile of ancient forest burnt, and a serious scolding both of them got from the Queen. 

Of course, with age, he mastered this fairy weakness - but it still didn't stop him from inviting a young human to an outing in such a state - outing of which sort, he cannot tell himself. A frolick? Just how dense and selfish would that make him look? He would only make the boy uncomfortable, a human whose company he enjoys immensely, and whose socializing abilities are lacking already, for all the other talents he has. 

He must tread carefully. And honestly. Honestly? Honestly, he really would run his claws through Shroud's hair for the whole night, and he would have that night last forever. Stars in the sky... Alright, no honesty. At least not that part of it. Step by step. He's in for it now, and he cannot take his word back anyways, even if he wanted to. For two days now, only Idia's flaring face is on his mind. Malleus hopes he hasn't already ruined it.

If only they could talk, his worries could be laid to rest, at least a little. He gets up and checks his phone, to no avail, of course, as there is no service in the capital of the Valley of Thorns. But, if he approaches a place which has it... Land of Pyroxene. Lilia's home is closer to the border and he knows that he could possibly use his phone from there, but he would rather not disturb Silver and him tonight, especially not with this in mind. The tall belt made of thorns, the border itself, however...

A spark lights up in Malleus' heart. He hatches a plan. One that requires the night to be dark and quiet. While he waits, he might as well replenish his energy in the bathtub. 

\-----------------

When Idia bound Ortho's soul and copied memories to the robotic body, his father was the last to accept it. However, seeing how it's possibly the only way to communicate with her, for the sake of his wife he did allow it, and now acts at least politely towards Ortho, almost treating him like he's the actual thing. 

On the day of Ortho's funeral, Idia's mother suffered a nervous breakdown, one she never recovered from. She was rendered almost immobile, and definitely unable to take care of herself, let alone live normally. She now lives in a room on the ground floor overlooking the sea, to facilitate moving her wheelchair around the house, should such opportunity ever come, and now it only comes with Ortho's presence.

For a long while after Ortho's death, the house and its residents were out of it. Meanwhile, unsupervised, a pissed off, 14-year-old Idia created the first prototype of Ortho and, providing the body with as many logs and videos about his past life as they had, literally breathed the body into life with a very advanced (very forbidden) summoning ritual he found in the equally unsupervised library. To father's shock, mother actually gave signs of life when in contact with what Idia, at the time, called Ortho 2.0, so his old man brokered some sort of temporary agreement with the other side and let it stay like this. More than anything, the fact that a child performed such sophisticated magic successfully was beyond him. Not long after, Idia received the invitation letter for Night Raven College, well over a year before he was supposed to attend.

Now, Idia stands in front of the door to his mother's room. He can hear Ortho's laughter inside. It's no wonder that he spent the entire day with her - he too is aware of her dependency, and the fact that they are both to be absent for the entirety of the summer holidays. It's never easy for him to visit mother. His chest aches. For him, her condition is worse than that of Ortho's. In fact, Idia strongly believes that, should Ortho Shroud's robotic body ever cease to function, the collective memory his magical circuits experience in this state will imprint itself on the soul, which will return to the Underworld from whence it came, effectively allowing them to reunite on the other side. Idia inhales. This is why he hates the house, among other things. Not one, but two shells with a pretense of life in them...

Idia looks at his tablet. He prepared a good excuse for himself to come and see mother. Even during primary school, she was always one to select attires for the two of them, be it daily life, or a special occasion. He could not care less for the school's customs and dress code requirements, but considering that he is literally entering a whole new world he knows next to nothing about, he would rather play it safe and polite. So, he hopes to use the brief moments of mother's sanity to have her... participate, in his life, in a way. He loads the catalogue of their family tailor, the one from the mainland port, then knocks tentatively and enters.

Mother's beauty and elegance cannot be easily erased, even if she is as thin and dry as a twig now. Her weakly flickering pale hair lies all around her bed, its length and volume uncontainable, yet all but extinguished. The "pulse of life" which reflected in their flaming locks was never appealing to Idia, but seeing hers glowing so faintly always gave him foreboding feelings. The gentle, yet cryptic smile she bears on her face is no doubt thanks to Ortho's presence, who is sitting at her feet in his homebound body, the one Idia originally crafted back then, with only the most necessary medical equipment built-in. His faceplate is fully uncovered on this one, to facilitate communication with mother. Mother looks at Idia softly.

"Oh, dear, come in, come in..."

"Brother! I was telling mother all about our year at school! Join us ~"

She seems to be rather stable at the moment, as most of the time, even when Ortho is there, to see her talk is very rare. Upon closer look, her empty eyes give away that she is indeed stuck in her perpetual, broken delusion. Idia swallows. Then, carefully, he approaches her bed and crouches next to it, looking half-worriedly at Ortho. Ortho gives Idia a reassuring nod. Well, it must be done.

"Mother. You seem well."

"How sweet of you, Idia... Your brother is keeping me company..."

"I-I see... You two are having a good time..."

"Idia... look how charming Ortho's hair is... We should have the barber cut yours the same way... You boys should look adorable together..."

Ortho gives Idia a sad look. Idia sighs. 

"Mother, would you please help me pick out an attire for an official visit to another kingdom..? Ortho and I... have friends to see this summer."

"Ortho mentioned your little friends, dear... I am happy you are having fun... You'll be playing games together... Just don't disturb your father's work..."

This conversation is already a struggle. How can Ortho actually sit here for the entire day..? Idia just wants to run away.

"M-mom... can you take a look at this..."

"Oh dear... I will pick out matching sets for Ortho and yourself..."

Idia turns his tablet towards her and lets her poke at the clothing pieces on the screen. A small tear quietly escapes his eye. 

\-----------------

Some time around 2am, south of the capital, Malleus is sitting on one of the bigger, horizontal thorns of the border of the Valley, clad in his leather back-laced overalls, his legs and wings hanging into the Land of Pyroxene airspace. He's just enabled 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵. There's 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 about unread messages. He's certain that the phone doesn't like him, as he only manages to open the app on the fifth attempt. Not even realizing that the notifications said so, he heads straight to Idia's 𝘋𝘔s to check for anything new. He chuckles at the chest full of blue gems and Idia's annoyance. Thinking about the usual expression he makes, his chest overflows with warmth.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳."

In about ten seconds, Idia, who is mid-raid, "accidentally" dies rushing into the boss and, waiting to respawn, grabs his tablet and enables voice-to-text.

"𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘩"

"𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳."

"𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳"

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐, 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵."

Idia actually accidentally dies staring at this message. In-game chat flares up about him losing focus. Malleus looks at his taunting text confidently. Idia types.

"𝘪 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄"

Malleus is worried. What's with the lines and dots and brackets?

"𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?"

Broken? No way. Wait, he must mean the emoticon. Idia sighs.

"𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯"

Malleus stares at the message. 

"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯."

Idia facepalms with a loud groan. 

"𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘪'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵"

Did he say something wrong? Malleus scratches his head.

"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴."

Idia feels sorry, almost like he is teasing him with the very concept of messages. They need to work on it more.

"𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵... 𝘪'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦"

"𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵."

"𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 :𝘗"

Malleus reads the salty remark correctly.

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯."

Idia dies yet again. Shit, Malleus... Idia excuses himself from the raging raid chat and sits on his bed with the tablet.

"𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦..?"

"𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦."

Idia gets flustered and his stomach clenches yet again. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘸... Face to face would get him dead irl for sure. He is struggling to find a decent answer. Malleus sends another message.

"𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."

"𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳 𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘸?"

Where r u... Oh, those letters read as full words. Lilia mentioned this being part of the written slang.

"𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘺𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘯𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭."

Idia brings the map up on his tablet, then grabs his head, realizing that Malleus traveled some 30 kilometers to the nearest place with reception... 

"𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥, 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢"

"𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘚𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥."

"𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵... 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘴"

After spending some more time looking at their messages, Idia locks the screen, then presses the tablet hard into his chest. Boy, is he glad that he gets to be truly alone in his room tonight.

\-----------------

Beneath the biggest balcony of the castle from which the Witch of Thorns rules the Valley, in the courtyard, a large pyre burns, where which creatures of the dark usually celebrate important days. From ghouls and boggarts to fauns and dryads, everyone who's anyone in the Valley of Thorns dances around the pyre in these bacchanals, and comings of seasons are possibly the most lighthearted events. With music, food and alcohol and for some - creamy deserts - these festivals are a place where all of the country, or those who accept it, laud the happy occasions together.

As heavy, double doors on the castle building open, Malleus stands there in his ceremonial garb, tight leather and waves of strangely shaped linen hanging from his torso, with sleeves which reach the floor, bound with freshly picked ivy which stretches over his wings and tail. He raises his hands and all the wilderness lets loose. 

With all the creatures from the woods and inhospitable corners of the fairy kingdom, reassured and excited, the crown prince dances around the pyre to greet the joys of yet another summer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another big THANK to my word police, Hogwuna.   
> Praised be -   
> Did a small update on chapters' summaries, cause I have a feeling this story will get rather long, so best have extra pointers on where did one stop reading, since I am too stupid to give names to chapters.   
> Cheers.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Malleus and Idia suffer a little bit more, after a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢 to tags, but I'm keeping it very light. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸.   
> Happy Malleus' birthday everyone.

A long, white hoverlimo bearing the distinct skull crest of the Shroud family cruises at high speed towards the north, to the border which separates the Land of Pyroxene and the Valley of Thorns. Idia and Ortho have made themselves comfortable in the back seat, but it's already been quite a while. Their butler, who is also their chauffeur for this occasion, as tasked by the master of the House, insisted on them being on time at the assigned location that is the border crossing, because punctuality in official business is absolute.

Idia yawns. Ortho was as kind as always to take the reversed seat in the car, as moving at high speeds backwards, of course, doesn't affect him in any way, whereas Idia would probably barf a bucket of acidic liquid that he ingested the previous night with the purpose of alleviating his anxiety over the trip. His father tried to coax him to sleep, but it ended up with Idia coaxing father into helping Ortho scan some century-old books in which the Valley was present as a topic. In fact, until their last day at home, Idia had prepared next to nothing for the trip, expecting full well to feel obnoxiously antsy just before they were about to depart. He hoped to work himself numb to forget about the red flags his gut was raising over this entire business. And work himself he did, but his anxiety-induced precision and efficiency left him all set to leave too soon, and a sleepless night was inevitable. Hell, he might have even caught some Zs if Haros hadn't barged into his room around 4am.

Be that as it may, a good side to it all is that Ortho was now equipped with various data about the Valley of Thorns, normally unavailable online, from extensive studies about the nature of the soil, to certain... gossip pieces about an alleged affair the ancient Witch of Thorns had with none other than their Lord Almighty. 𝘠𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, one might say.

Sitting in his freshly tailored garb, a formal black ensemble with an oddly, sideways cut coat - just the way mother likes it - thrown over the backrest, Idia fiddles with the silver triangles adorning his shirt, looking at Ortho who's been silently browsing the net for almost half an hour now.

"Anything interesting there?"

Ortho doesn't respond for almost a minute. Finally, he retracts his visor to signal that he is present in the conversation. He nods.

"Brother was too kind to provide me with this kind of computing power."

"Huh, running simulations? This early? That bored?"

Ortho makes a pause.

"I... actually wanted to ask you about something, big brother."

Idia felt something was off about Ortho since they came home, but knew he'd eventually come forward with it. However, that it happens now makes Idia feel slightly worried and irritated.

"Alright, shoot."

"Listen, I was conducting a study about the development of pseudo-psyche, and the possible patterns of cognitive evolution through the simulation."

It takes Idia a second to process, but when he does, he suddenly becomes wide awake.

"Hey, that's almost science fiction, I told you. Don't tell me some nobody made a breakthrough before I did."

Ortho frowns.

"You think I'd make this up? I've been running tests on brain circuit branches in batches for a few weeks now. I bet you'll guess which one gave results."

"Uhh... If I had to... Frontal lobe?"

"See? You do know it. Apparently, applying an enhanced stimulus to the frontal lobe might trigger a different variant of the soul core response. The simulation shows an option."

"But... it requires extra magical energy, right?"

"Yeah. Specifically, the simulated development would only occur if the circuits are exposed to borderline hazardous flow of magical energy, isolated in the frontal lobe only, and kept at these values for prolonged periods of time."

"How much are we talking?"

"According to the general value of an average human brain and its cognitive capacities becoming fully formed around the age of 25, I say, an approximate 16 years of such performance."

"Filling you in on the missing years, huh..."

Idia picks away at his braided ponytail. The capacities of the magical circuits in Ortho's brain are humongous, and the frontal lobe takes up almost half of the brain itself. Even Idia knows little about it, considering how the finesse of its production was left to father's cutting-edge 3d printers. After inputting the brain blueprints, he only ever had to monitor and maintain. Which only led him to one conclusion.

"Ortho... such flow of energy is beyond my capacities. By far."

"I know, brother, but maybe one day, if solution is found..."

Idia looks at Ortho, feeling as if he has somehow betrayed him by being unable to provide resources for a potentially groundbreaking solution.

Ortho gives back a sad little look, then leans forward to his brother, and takes his hand.

"Big brother, my question. If one day we find a way to perform this, will you make me a bigger body? One maybe... in size of your own?

Surprised by the heart wrenching request, Idia can only stare at his baby brother wide eyed. Then he smiles.

"I... I promise. I will do it."

Ortho jumps at Idia for a hug and presses him hard into the seat. Idia burps and struggles for freedom.

"P-please... Have mercy, my innards..."

"OH! Oh, sorry, haha ~"

Ortho perks up and his visor closes.

"Look, we're here!"

"Nav says there's still time -"

At this moment, Idia looks out the window and notices the tall, thorny, wall-like structure in the distance, stretching left and right for as far as they could see. Talk about warm welcomes, he thinks.

"Brother, imagine if Malleus Draconia-sama's plans for introduction and development of tech bear fruit. You would possibly be needed here for years to come... Father would be very proud of you ~"

Idia leans against the window, thinking about the unknown. It's true, all of this could go so many ways. He isn't worried about his own performance in this matter, tech's behavior is easy to anticipate. Same couldn't be said about both humans and fairies. He bonks his head into the glass as they approach the border.

"You should get dressed, brother."

"Yeah, yeah."

The limousine approaches the forest of thorns. The car effortlessly floats over the deep pits left by some of the roots cut out for the clearing. Haros lands the car in the plain indicated as the meeting point. Both Ortho and Idia unstick their faces off the window, and Idia exhales with relief, realizing that Lilia is there. Not that he wasn't expecting him, but when you're easily freaked out by people you always have your doubts. This shit's really happening, Idia thinks, and gets out of the car. Eight strangely dressed people with halberds stand guard on the clearing. 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭. The place already feels like an RPG. Lilia greets the Shroud brothers with a cheerful smile. 

"Nekura Samurai-kun... Ortho-kun! Welcome, welcome, ah... Fresh blood in this everlasting boredom of a place."

"Lilia-shi... Please don't use that nick so easily..."

"What, someone here is gonna know where it's from, ha..?"

Idia still cannot recover from the fact that he's been playing online with this guy for almost three years without knowing who he was, or what he was. It just doesn't feel the same irl. It only took one dragon prince to take an interest in him, and suddenly everything about the Diasomnia crew that didn't make sense, made even less. Poor Silver-shi. He has to put up with this every day. 

"Lilia Vanrouge-san! It's good to see you again so soon!"

"The feeling is mutual, Ortho-kun... fufu."

The butler releases the long stream of the Shrouds' luggage from the trunk, and, making sure that the boys are in good hands, wishes everyone good luck with their summer business, then bids them farewell. Haros was never one for useless words, and Idia is thankful for it. 

"While we 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 stay here and chat about tomorrow's raid, I believe we best be on our way. There's at least one person in the castle very eager to see you."

Lilia shows the boys towards the fantasy-looking ornate carriage waiting just a few steps away, in the territory officially belonging to the Valley of Thorns. The four pitch-black horses that power the vehicle seem impatient. Giving Lilia a confused look, Idia helps Ortho guide their luggage towards the carriage. All three proceed to seat themselves in the purple embroidered cushions inside, and as the two of the heavy metal NPCs close the doors, in the privacy of the carriage, they are on their way.

"𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 one, Lilia-shi? W-what do you mean?"

"Oh, you know, one of them is very, very eager."

Ortho laughs under his breath. Idia breathes in deeply. Lilia knows. Lilia's gotta know. Is it common for fairies to love teasing humans to the end and back? 

"I meant... You said 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵. Anyone else I should know about..?"

"Well, in fact, probably. This isn't set in stone, but knowing our Majesty the Queen... She will probably want to meet you."

Idia scratches his head. This day is already too long.

"Any tips... on handling myself in front of... her Majesty the Queen?"

"Oh, polite regularities will be just fine. If you're lucky, you might not need say a word. Lately she just likes to... observe things."

"Huh?"

"Well, you need not say much for her to judge your existence from head to toe with as much as a glance. No pressure. She is the Witch of Thorns, after all."

"Wait. That a title all rulers in the Valley of Thorns carry?"

"All rulers...? Oh, Malleus really didn't tell you. Well... whoops, I blew it. I suppose he didn't want to scare you, but hey, best know what you're up against, isn't it?"

"Y-you're joking. Lilia-shi. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 Witch of Thorns? The one from the legend?"

"In the flesh. I wouldn't quite joke with that one. But also, you can tell what would happen if you said that to someone out of context. Would they believe you? I doubt."

"Well... Y-yeah. So, uh, care to fill me in on... what's actually up in the Valley? Apparently, Malleus thought mandrake cakes and sightseeing tips were more important... and you guys aren't exactly trending on the net, you know."

"Kufufu. Boy really lost his mind, did he... Well, since we're almost there... I'll give you the short version."

"Almost there...?"

Idia didn't even notice the speed at which they were cruising. The forest left and right looks the same.

"Anyhow. Yes, Malleus is to inherit the throne straight from his grandmother, the Witch of Thorns."

"G-grand...mother..."

"The Witch of Thorns is really Malleus Draconia-sama's grandmother!?"

"Indeed she is. She's been sitting on the throne for centuries, since... well before any of the current human countries even took shape. You do probably know that the fairy realm did see some conflict with humans back in the old days. Such stories are told still."

"I... I somehow always thought they were made up to enrich the undignified history of the shit-eating monkeys' evolution."

Lilia laughs heartily. 

"Well! Come now, such dislike for your fellow humans. Anyways, that outlook on things might be and might not be good. You see, in the Valley, there are living souls which still remember numerous such conflicts. Some lost friends and family to them. And now, we have a retiring queen - been wanting that for at least half a millennia - lady needs her peace and quiet, you know? Surely enough, she is assuming that the humanity is now civilized enough that coexistence is possible."

"You do... have humans living in the Valley, right?"

"Correct. Well, we've seen an increase in numbers during the last... 150... maybe even 200 years or so. Doing just fine living together. Having children, some."

"Where were you for that visit of mine to the Diasomnia dorm..."

"Come on, we are talking now, are we? I need my beauty alone time too, you know? Besides, Malleus is rather easy to read and take care of, nowadays. I don't need to oversee 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 little thing he does. Well, he was at least until the two of you started... hanging out. Kufufu... You're neglecting the game, Nekura Samurai. You were playing with a half of your brain power for the past week."

Lilia scratches his chin with a teasing expression. Idia pouts.

"I... had other things on my mind, you know."

"See, and you'd rather to have acquired all of this information way before? Anyways, what I wanted to conclude with - due to the mixed sentiments about humans, and the history we share, not every fairy resident of the Valley is eager to mingle with them... nor is everyone eager to comply with the innovations that our prince is trying to introduce to our ways. They take it as the youngling's naiveté. To make 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 collaborate and fully accept his rule is the true challenge Malleus will have to face. Bear this in mind, when you interact with others."

Court intrigue. Just what Idia needed. He could see why an independent society would want nothing to do with humans. Summer menu, a human mess of a meal, with a fairy salad on the side. He scratches the nape of his neck. 

"Doesn't sound easy..."

"I for one do not envy his task, but, it is what it is. Life goes on, whether some like it or not. The sooner they accept that, the better. Which brings me to another thing..."

"Hm?"

"I personally want to thank you, Nekura Samurai. For giving our young prince a chance."

"Wha..?"

"He was never big on expressing happiness. He wouldn't even admit to what he is missing. And lately, whenever I look at him from the side, I see him pensive, but hopeful, all after that small overblot issue. I would be stupid not to accept that you had a part in it."

Idia blushes slightly, his mouth agape. 

"You're... w-welcome?"

"It's probably much to ask, growing, changing and lifespans considered but... please don't give up on him easily. He can be dense, that one."

Wish he could, Idia thinks. Would have made things way easier. He sighs. 

"I-I... I'll do my best." 

"It pleases me to hear it. Now, when we arrive, as promised, for your comfort, the three of us will be tending to you. Silver will show you to your quarters. The equipment we brought is unloaded in the room designated for you, Ortho."

"I will set it all up, big brother! It's easier for me anyways. You can rest for a bit. Maybe take a nap?"

"That's... not likely to happen..."

The carriage crosses over the bridge and climbs up the road carved into the side of the rocky ridge above the abyss which houses the capital of the Valley of Thorns. As the boys peek out the window, they see a tall castle built of dark stone towering upon the town surrounding it. Some of the structures of the castle settlement hang from the town's walls and over the deadly landscape stretching far and wide, seemingly secured - Idia hopes - into the ledges of the ridge. As they enter the town and reach the castle's courtyard through the main street, various kinds of weird creatures and monsters follow the carriage with unmistakably questioning expressions. The sun shines on the castle spires, making it seem slightly less ominous. Lilia claps once in excitement as the door opens, and he helps the Shroud brothers out of the carriage.

"Well, good luck now."

Idia lets Lilia go first, before he dares peek at the welcoming committee, the crown prince in person, surrounded by ten guards of various builds, clad in armor that bears more details than the one he manually made for Halloween last year. In a long, dark green robe, with a circlet of thorns, Malleus stands in the middle with a smile, looking radiant, if Idia has ever seen a person who radiates. He gestures the guards to be at ease, and they leave for their usual posts around the courtyard.

"Idia Shroud. Ortho Shroud. Welcome to the kingdom of the dark fae." 

Putting his hand on his chest, Idia nods ever so slightly, followed by Ortho's floating curtsy. 

"M-Malleus-shi."

Malleus looks straight at Idia.

"I am delighted to see you."

Idia blushes a little. Fuck, eye contact. He inconspicuously fidgets with the braided ponytail hanging over his shoulder.

"C-come on now... It's only been a week... Passed rather quickly too."

"So will the sixty nights of your visit to our home. I am eager to put our plans into motion."

"I... Yes."

Malleus revels in the image of Idia Shroud standing in the sun for a few moments, before snapping out of it. He scolds himself mentally, scared that he is again being too forward, too soon.

"Ah, I am a poor host. Please, go and rest. Your quarters await you."

Lilia and the Shrouds follow Malleus into the shade of the big arch that was the main entrance to the castle, and as their eyes acclimate to the darkness, in between the atrium guards, Silver and Sebek greet them from both sides with a half-bow. Silver gestures towards the large set of stairs leading to the eastern wing.

"Idia-senpai. Ortho kun. Can I still use those?"

Idia stops. 

"Uh... whatever is fine, S-Silver-shi..."

"The audience with the young master awaits you tomorrow at dusk!" - Sebek announces in his usual deafening intonation.

Malleus smiles at everyone, and nodding at Lilia, turns to leave.

"Well, considering that I called recess in the council, I am expected to return soon. Have a good day, everyone. Shroud, I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

Idia looks at Malleus' back strolling away confidently with some disappointment in his eyes. Tomorrow? Bummer... He looks for consolation in Lilia.

"Malleus sure is busy..."

Sebek bursts out.

"Guests shall address the young master with proper titles in his domain!!"

"Ooooookay... time to go, boy, let's go arrange the servants to bring in the luggage..."

Lilia grabs Sebek's shoulder and leads him into the courtyard with an apologetic glance aimed at the Shrouds. Whispering something to him, he somehow seems to calm Sebek's fussiness. Silver watches them leave, then pinches the bridge of his nose. 

"Shall we?"

Ortho floats up the stairs casually, waiting for the feet-users to climb.

"Sebek Zigvolt-san sure has a temper."

"Yes, well... it's annoying. And it gets worse with age too."

Silver and Ortho leave Idia in a large room in the corner of the main castle building, while they leave to another room across the corridor to check and setup the equipment brought earlier. Idia stands in the middle of the room blanking for a few minutes. This is it. Home for the next couple of months. With a vaguely curved outer wall, tall ceiling and top to bottom windows, this place didn't seem so last-century, regardless of it being populated with creatures predating any living person Idia knows. As it is obviously a guest room, not much of specialized furniture is present. The desk that is here will be enough, though. 

Idia heads towards the regular-looking door on the opposite side of the room and, vaguely hearing water running inside, knocks. When no response comes, he cautiously peeks inside, realizing it's his bathroom - indeed, empty. He looks around the room. In one of the corners, from above, a seemingly endless stream of water flows through an ornate stone duct and falls into a weirdly embossed sink that breaks its fall and spirals it out of sight and into the sewage. Idia inspects the weird contraption. Enchanted, probably. Holy shit, so flashy. Before going back, he goes ahead and uses it to freshen his face up while his hair sizzles to the stray splashes.

For now, Idia faceplants on the bed, internally befriending it. He rolls over, looking at the ornate ceiling. There's a raid coming tomorrow night. But for him, there's another raid before the raid. The one happening at dusk. Really, does life in the castle only revolve around protocols? No power to those who are supposed to be in charge? He sighs. It's sad, but he only gets to see Malleus tomorrow. That gives Idia just enough time to overthink what to say. Time to fuck shit up before he even meets him, he thinks, taking Gao gao out of his pocket. Right, there's no internet here. He's gonna setup the satellite link. His father pays good money to be able to have high quality signal basically anywhere on the planet. Idia had thought previously, who even needs that? There's service everywhere nowadays. Little did he know he'd end up here. He stretches to put Gao gao on the night stand, careful not to almost kill it again. Alright, time to connect this place to the net. 

Idia takes the satellite receiver out of the box Ortho gave him previously, and heads to plug it next to the desk. 

No sockets here. Maybe behind the bed? None there either...

Wait. No.

Idia looks up. No chandeliers, no lights. He storms out into the corridor. Nothing. No electricity in the castle. Fuck. Ortho's charger!

He almost blasts through the door into Ortho's room and bumps into Lilia on his way out.

"Whoa, easy, I was just going to get you."

"Lilia-shi! There's no electricity! How do we-"

"Relaaax, kid. Man. Look."

Lilia points at a fuel generator standing next to one of the windows, where Silver is helping Ortho by providing moral support for plugging all the machinery into generator sockets.

"Brother! Look, they brought a generator for us!"

"Y-yall mean to say there's no power in the capital...?"

"Oh, don't worry, power supply in town should be done in a few days." - Lilia adds. "They already planted it from across the bridge and in a storehouse near the outer wall."

Idia sits in a nearby chair and rubs his face harder than ever. 

"Ooookay... ᵈⁱᵈⁿ'ᵗ ʳᵉᵃˡⁱᶻᵉ ⁱⁿᵗʳᵒᵈᵘᶜⁱⁿᵍ ᵗᵉᶜʰ ᵐᵉᵃⁿᵗ ⁱⁿᵗʳᵒᵈᵘᶜⁱⁿᵍ ᶠⁱʳᵉ..."

Lilia chuckles.

"Well, you boys have fun now. I'll go make sure the remaining luggage is delivered."

Lilia leaves. Silver scratches his head looking at Idia.

Idia breaks the eye contact. He sighs, gets up and removes his coat. He unbuttons his weird asymmetric shirt for air.

"Idia-senpai. Do you need privacy?"

Idia approaches the equipment casings, but doesn't respond. 

"Idia-senpai?"

Idia looks at Silver distraught.

"S-Silver-shi... I...uh... ⁿᵒᵗʰⁱⁿᵍ ⁱˢ ʳⁱᵍʰᵗ ᵗᵒᵈᵃʸ... I should help assemble our equipment though."

He grabs the nearest box and starts sorting the tools.

"Are you sure you're alright? You seem really tired."

"Brother, how about you take a nap?"

"Will you ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 ˢᵘᵍᵍᵉˢᵗⁱⁿᵍ ⁿᵃᵖˢ ᵃˡʳᵉᵃᵈʸ... Please. It's either this or ᵐᵉ ᵐᵉˡᵗⁱⁿᵍ ⁱⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵒʳⁿᵉʳ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ⁿᵉʷ ʳᵒᵒᵐ ᵒᵛᵉʳ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ, is that any better?"

Ortho and Silver pause. 

"Alright, brother. But at least let Silver-san help you, will you? With carrying those."

"Gee...fine. Silver-shi, please bring those three to the desk..."

"Hey, Idia-senpai. I can have some hot cocoa made for you. They had some in the kitchen this morning. In case you like that."

Idia looks at Silver. He's been here for an hour, and he's already giving shit to this guy.

"Uh... I'll take you up on that... yes. T-thanks, Silver-shi."

Silver makes a vague smile.

\-----------------

Sometime after sundown, Idia sets Ortho to compensate charging his batteries for a few hours less the previous night, then returns to his room. He feels like a rag, but at least he was distracted enough... and he has internet now. No strength in his body to benefit from it, though. He could start chipping away at the energy drink supply he brought, but he already had to cut the rations because of 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, so he'd rather save those for a better occasion. 

He heads to the bathroom to figure out how to fill the tub using the weird contraption. Some more enchanted rocks, he can work with that. Buuuuut no way to heat the water up. No way is he calling anyone for help now. Enough people for the day. He summons his amp skull and warms up the water with magic in a matter of minutes, then throws his clothing onto a chair in the room, and, picking up his hair in a messy bunch on top of his head, dips into the carved stone tub.

Idia realizes that the hard, polished surface actually feels super nice against his stiff spine. The tub accommodates his height quite nicely, so he sinks farther in and leans his head on the edge, just above the water level. He missed doing this at home. Straightforward and spartan, Ignihyde bathrooms, unlike those of some other dorms, only provided showers. Idia can feel the accumulated tension pulse through his body in the hot water. His unreasonable disappointment hangs in the air. He didn't get to meet Malleus today, and he didn't do anything meaningful either. He flinches. He hasn't checked Gao gao! Wait... he still hasn't instructed Malleus how to connect to the net. Which means tamagotchi won't show his activity... 

He slumps into the tub again. This water is slowly getting too cold for him, so he heats it up some more. So nice and warm... hope he won't fall asleep. He wonders what he did to deserve this... Yet again, if only he could get some more tonight. To be put to relaxing sleep by Malleus' spell... That would be nice right now. He doesn't even know if they will be able hang out together like back at the dorm. He hopes for it to be possible, if only for a short while. Doesn't even have to be too often... 

Idia flinches again. They're going on a date. Right. Malleus said he decided on the place. Anxiety and excitement struggle for dominance whenever he thinks how that might play out... Though, anticipation aside, Idia hopes it doesn't happen until late in their stay in the Valley... In case he fucks something up before... or during this stressful event. He might just hide in some cave for good and never ever show his face in school again, either... Okay, slowly, calm down. He didn't make any wrong steps... so far... Has he? Maybe he has. Fuck... Who is this audience for? Idia alone? He hopes it will be him alone... Fuck... maybe he should move to bed. But, just a few more minutes...

Idia falls asleep in the polished stone tub, to the sound of water streaming through ornate pipes. 

\-----------------

Malleus stands on the balcony of Idia's room, for the fifth time today. Every time he stopped by, all he saw was an empty room. He is getting antsy. Where is the boy? It's completely dark inside now, but he can make out some clothing on the chair. He takes it as a hopeful sign that Idia has returned, so he flickers himself inside, lighting a single faint orb of light to follow him around. Idia is not in bed. However, closing in on the wall behind it... He senses where he is. He approaches the bathroom door, waits for a few moments listening attentively, then knocks. 

"Shroud?"

No answer comes. Is he alright? 

He clicks the door open. The skull he uses to cast magic glows ominously on the edge of the tub. On the other side of it, Idia's hair glows faintly, bundled up on top of his head. Judging by the intensity of its glow, and the breathing rhythm, he is fast asleep. Malleus approaches the tub. Well now. This is... not how Malleus imagined their first night together in the castle. He chuckles to himself. Idia must have been really tired. Didn't even wait for him to put him to sleep... 

One thing is for sure, he can't leave him here. Malleus eyes his scrawny, yet oddly attractive body through the ripples for a few moments. Then, he crouches next to the tub and dips his hand in the water to check the temperature. Barely warm. 

Now. He could... float him out and into the bed, but... no. No, he doesn't want that. He grabs an embroidered towel off the sink counter, then unlocks the drain. When the water level reaches below Idia's chest, rolling his sleeves up and putting the towel over his arm, Malleus leans in. Squeezing his hands behind Idia's back and below his knees, he picks the boy up into his arms as if he is nothing. While he supports his head additionally with magic not to wake him up, he stands, having the towel float around his torso, patting him gently. The flaming hair bundle unwraps itself caused by the commotion. 

Malleus takes him back into the bedroom and the bed covers fling aside. He's aware that Idia will probably be cold and wake up if he stays like this for too long, but he wishes to feel his skin on his own for just another moment. Finally, approaching the bed, Malleus puts him down, and, concluding it will probably be too risky to get him dressed in any way now, hesitating briefly, pulls the covers over Idia's naked body. He extinguishes the follower orb, and finds himself in the darkness illuminated only by the rhythmic light pulses of Idia's hair. 

Malleus sits very slowly on the bed next to him, studying his face for a while. Such a marvelous, yet fleeting life. 

He lowers himself onto a pillow next to Idia and carefully flicks a few of his bangs off his face. Closing what little distance there was between them, Malleus trails sleeping Idia's ear with his finger, catching a strand of his hair and rolling it between his fingers. 

He spends some time listening to him breathe. He really brought a human to the Valley. A human advisor. The thing that was missing. And not your regular human either, from what he had the chance to learn at school. Flaming hair aside. A human who will teach him all that humans are special for. A pretty, little, fragile human...

Now, how would Idia Shroud withstand some dragon fire? 

He really shouldn't be doing this. The boy is sleeping. 

But... that makes it all the better. What's the worst that can happen... the hair will 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦?

He 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 wants to see that.

Leaning on his elbow, Malleus takes the tip of one of the longer strands of Idia's hair and brings it up to his face. Then, reining himself in as much as possible, he breathes ever so slightly into the strand. 

A fiery wave of lime green flows right into the messy sea of flames that is Idia's hair, as if it was alive, whirling as a current from tips to roots and back before fading out back to the usual blues.

Malleus shudders with excitement. Obviously, this being is fully resistant to magical fire. His mouth burns. Without thinking twice, he rolls his long, dragon tongue out and sticks it onto the cool skin of Idia's shoulder, trailing his neck all the way to the hair behind his ear.

Straightening himself and smiling somewhat maliciously, Malleus wipes his mouth while looking at Idia's peaceful, sleeping face.

He 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 to use this on him, 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

For now, he thinks as he gets off the bed and towards the balcony door, before he does something irreversible, Malleus must meet him in private, first thing in the morning.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Idia and Malleus are a walking misunderstanding.

Rather early the next day, with dew drops still clinging to the flowers, Malleus is sitting in his rose garden behind the castle, in a small wrought iron gazebo. Big terraces that cascade one below the other all overlook the Valley of Thorns. Malleus fidgets with his tea, stirring it absentmindedly while he waits for breakfast, and his companion.   
In summertime, the garden is mostly awash with purple, pastel lime and pale rose flowers. Its second best look, Malleus thinks. He has roses of many shades of purple, light and dark, but blue ones don’t quite exist in nature, even one influenced by fairy magic for centuries back. It’s a color reserved for… other things. 

Malleus notices the sunlit blue flame come down the stairs leading into the garden, followed by a guard. The dragon prince perks up and straightens his robe, wiggling a bit to make himself more comfortable in the tall collar. As Idia approaches, his fingers desperately plucking the braid, much like the one he had for that first dinner they had together in town of the Isle of Sages, Malleus stands up to greet him with a gentle face. 

"Good morning. Royal Advisor."

"G-good m-morning… ʸᵒᵘʳ ʰⁱᵍʰⁿᵉˢˢ..."

Idia looks at Malleus with an expression which almost screams "embarrassment". He looks like he is about to cry.

The guard turns on his heel and leaves. For a few moments, the two stand in silence. Idia gathers air in his lungs.

"ᴸᵃˢᵗ ⁿⁱᵍʰᵗ..."

Malleus abruptly stops him with a swift gesture of a finger to his face, asking for silence. As he watches the guard walk away, he finally relaxes and takes his seat, gesturing Idia towards the chair on the opposite side of the round table. 

"Now, you were saying?"

Idia looks around, now paranoid himself. 

"You... ʸᵒᵘ ʷᵉʳᵉ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ ˡᵃˢᵗ ⁿⁱᵍʰᵗ, ʷᵉʳᵉⁿ'ᵗ ʸᵒᵘ - ᵇᵒᵗʰ ᵈᵒᵒʳˢ ʷᵉʳᵉ ˡᵒᶜᵏᵉᵈ, ʸᵒᵘ ʲᵘˢᵗ ᵉⁿᵗᵉʳᵉᵈ ⁻ ᴵᵗ'ˢ ᵍᵒᵗᵗᵃ ᵇᵉ ʸᵒᵘ -"

Malleus smiles, eyeing the garden left and right.

"But of course. In fact, I was hoping to talk to you before you went to sleep, but... you were out cold already."

"ᴵ ʷᵃˢ asleep ᵃⁿᵈ ⁿᵃᵏᵉᵈ - ᵃⁿᵈ ʸᵒᵘ ʲᵘˢᵗ..."

Malleus chuckles, looking back at Idia.

"What, was I to leave you lying in freezing water for the night, even though I could have prevented you from catching a cold on the very day of your arrival? Do you think so low of me?"

Idia gapes. He tries to say something, but he just... can't. The fairy's cheeky expression leaves him at a loss for words. He's been on the edge since Lilia's knocking woke him not long ago. To wake up in that bed, dazed and nude, and get called for breakfast even though he was sure he'd have 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 before the meeting in the afternoon, is simply too many surprises too early. And here, he can't say any of the things that were going through his head a minute ago. That's just the influence Malleus has on him. His heart races, and his mind goes numb. He slumps in the chair in defeat.

"I... seriously... you are impossible."

"Hmpf. Am I? I stopped by several times yesterday, but you were always absent, until I found you there. You made me wait. I should punish you."

Idia looks at him flabbergasted.

"I... excuse me?!"

Malleus laughs uproariously, entertained by Idia's confusion. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... hah... You're still half asleep. I, of course, am joking. Here, have some tea. It's rosehip. From this garden of mine, naturally."

Idia rubs his eyes, blushing. Finally, relaxing a little, he starts paying attention to how rich and beautiful the rose garden is. Without so much as moving a finger, Malleus has the tea service arrange and fill itself in front of his guest, and the steam coming off red tea warms Idia's face.

"Nice place. This... this is the one you take care of, right?"

"One and only. Rather pleasant to spend time in, when the weather allows it."

"I see..."

A few moments pass in a quiet stare-off between the two. Malleus doesn't mind it, but Idia decides he'd rather fill the awkward silence.

"So, uh... do you usually use magic this much around here, or are you just showing off?

"Ha... Is it strange? If I wanted to 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧𝘧, I wouldn't just pour the tea for you."

"Now that you say it... that... yeah, doesn't sound like something you’d do."

"I just... don't think about it. I simply do it. It's very convenient when you don't want people around. Seeing servants left and right is... distracting, to say the least."

"It really is... This garden... do you tend to it with magic too? Summon the rain? Conjure water and plant nutrients?"

"Fufu... well, summoning rain at will is still... a little difficult. Tends to happen when I least want it, in fact. If you must know. But I do conjure water for the roses. Do they ingest my essence with it in this manner? Perhaps."

"I guess... it takes you an entire day to tend to a garden this big."

"...Not quite. Not all of the roses need custom care. The forty-seven red ones on that upper cascade over there? They were all planted on the same day, hence why they can be taken care of simultaneously."

Idia remembers something about the roses being planted once a year, for Malleus' birthday. He glances over to the lower cascades, where he could see approximately twice as much, but either all differently colored, or not currently in bloom. 

"Forty s-seven... S-so... how old are you exactly again?"

Malleus vaguely smiles at Idia, gently pressing a finger to his mouth, as several servants approach carrying trays and baskets of breakfast goodies, then leaving as quietly as they came. 

"See? Nuisance. But I, my advisor, face a much bigger problem at this moment. In fact, two of them."

Idia blinks. 

"I... uh. Something I can help with..?"

Malleus takes Gao gao Dragon-kun from the inside of his robes and places it gently on the tray between bowls of jam.

"Ah. So... You've heard. I brought internet to the party."

Malleus grins childishly. Idia chuckles.

"Seriously... You. Bet you're older than a century."

Malleus doesn't answer. He looks into the rose garden with a smirk, focused elsewhere entirely. 

"ᴬⁿᵈ ʸᵒᵘ ᵗʰᵒʳᵒᵘᵍʰˡʸ ᵉⁿʲᵒʸ ᵈᵒⁱⁿᵍ ᵗʰⁱˢ..."

"My second problem is way bigger, Shroud."

"Let me guess, 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪-𝘧𝘪-"

"See that dark purple flower over there? The big bloom facing the walkway."

Idia turns towards where Malleus is pointing, and sees the nearby lush rose bush with only a few dark flowers.

"Y...yes..?"

"Well... right now, more than anything, I would really like to go over there and pick it for you... But... since we are being watched here... And I best not raise any eyebrows this early in the morning… I can only cut it... and I'm going to have to ask you to go and take it yourself.

Idia looks at Malleus half surprised, half confused, and one whole flustered. He walks over towards the dark, purple rose, already cut and floating in the bush. Gently picking it up as to not poke himself on the thorns, he comes back to the table. Malleus gives him a somber little smile.

"Please pretend that I did that for you."

Idia twirls the prickly flower between his fingers. This guy... he is quite something. 

"I thank you for accepting this ludicrous request of mine. Coming here."

"I... It's really nothing. In fact, I have fleshed out the details of this plan and our course of action..."

"Do not strain your thoughts now, we will talk business in the evening. I just... want you to know that I appreciate it. Truly."

"That's... I, uh, it's really not a big deal. What you want is pretty straightforward. Hell, probably the same way you'd pour me tea with magic without thinking."

Malleus smiles.

"I suppose it is so."

Another quiet stare-off ensues. This time, Malleus breaks the silence.

"I owe you a little explanation."

"The... feral look explanation?"

"Well... that too, but it will have to wait. This one is about ice cream."

"Ice cream?"

"Yes. I really love ice cream, but, you see, the fairy kind... has a very specific response to cream, and sugar-dairy products."

"Eeeeeeerrrm... Alright? Not poisonous, I hope..?"

"It makes one's body enter a state of hyperawareness and hypersensitivity."

"Huh."

"In fact, it's comparable to that of response human bodies have when introduced with alcoholic beverages."

"Wait."

"Possibly even stronger - what they call psychoactive substances..?"

"Wait, wait ʷᵃⁱᵗ ʷᵃⁱᵗ stop. You get 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮?"

"That- that's the word."

Idia looks at the dead serious Malleus for a moment.

"ᴴᵒˡʸ ˢʰⁱᵗ."

"Are you... alright with that?"

"You're kidding? That's like - 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 - plus, now it all makes sense? Just why did you like the shaved ice maker we made you for b-day 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 - it doesn’t make you go wack, right - ?"

"I could really use some instructions on operating that -"

"Cause it's only water and sugar! No actual... cream or dairy involved!"

"That is the gist of it."

"But it also explains that inexplicable behavior of yours."

Idia looks at Malleus with his piercing, yellow eyes worriedly.

"You asked me out... cause you were high."

Ah, Shroud. Nothing really gets past him, ever. Like a cat, thrown into a new environment without warning, he will still land on his feet. That's right, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭, now good luck making the boy 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 you only wanted to enjoy some alone time with him, without 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 -

"That's... not true. But... otherwise, I... my heart wouldn't dare to hope for your acceptance."

Idia's eyes tear up. Malleus looks at him worried and confused. Does he not believe him?

"I... I like your brother, and I care for my companions, but it seems difficult, and I simply want us to be alone, somewhere special -"

"You scared me, ᵃˢˢʰᵒˡᵉ. I..."

𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳'𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘺, Malleus thinks, but he'll let it slide. The unmistakable 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 emanating from the profanity makes his gut unknot itself.

"If you ᵖˡᵃʸᵉᵈ ᵐᵉ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵃᵗ, I would certainly ⁿᵉᵛᵉʳ ᵍᵒ ᵒᵘᵗ ᵗᵒ ᶠᵃᶜᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ʷᵒʳˡᵈ ᵃᵍᵃⁱⁿ..."

Malleus exhales with relief.

"I will be on the lookout for the darkest of nights... I will take you to a very special place."

Idia hides his face in his hands, trying to suppress the whirlwind of emotions from his face. Then he softens up with a tiny smile.

"ᴵⁿᶜᵒʳʳⁱᵍⁱᵇˡᵉ."

Malleus smiles brightly, with a quiet resolution - he will make the boy feel welcome and loved, warmed up as he would be with the mystical dragon flame, 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩.

"Please, help yourself. Seeing as you were not very fond of mandrake, I recommend this brown one, the rose marmalade... that one is quite sweet."

"Malleus..."

"Yes?"

"When I enable the internet on your phone, make sure to check the messages... when you can, ʷⁱˡˡ ʸᵒᵘ?"

The golden eyes look at him hopefully.

"I promise I will."

\----------------------

Later in the day, Idia is going through the documents he prepared for his meeting with Malleus when Ortho knocks on his door.

"Brother, I've finally finished setting everything up."

"Thank you for your hard work, Ortho. Printers too, yes?"

"Yep. All of it! Oh... quite the flower you got there."

Idia dodges the remark about the rose on his desk.

"Perfect. Come here, please."

Ortho approaches the desk. Idia is trying to muster the strength to talk to his baby brother about what's going through his head, about Malleus. He isn't exactly in the dark about something going on, but Idia would really like to confide in him, to ask for advice and his opinion. And who else can he ask and hope for unconditional honesty, unclouded by their own personal interests? However, whenever it comes to facing Ortho about this, Idia's bravery gives out. 

"Could you... check this data for me one more time, please?"

"Brother, I've gone over it twice now. Your estimates are correct. You should relax."

"T-that might be the case, but I just 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵-"

Ortho looks at Idia worriedly.

"I get it, you're nervous. But you've seriously done estimates and calculations for projects of far greater complexity. This will be a breeze for you."

"I... It should... I know, it should be. But this is the first time that I am doing them in someone else's name, you know? It's not my own problem if I screw this up. It doesn't help that everyone is so... special, here."

Ortho smiles.

"You want this done right, for Malleus Draconia-sama's sake."

"Well... yes, that too."

Idia looks at Ortho hopefully, begging for his brother to read his mind and deliver the salvation he needs at this moment. 

"Alright, brother. How about you try not to stress about the data before you go meet Malleus Draconia-sama, and keep me some company with 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦?"

Idia chuckles.

"That one does solve all the problems, true, fuhihi ~"

"I know! So let's preoccupy ourselves before it's your time to shine ~"

\----------------------------

Slouched and petrified, Idia is standing in front of two minotaur guards posted at the entry stairway to Malleus' tower loft, hugging his printed presentation bound in a leather file. He cannot help but wonder if he came too early, eyed ambiguously by the tall creatures. Is it the hair again? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴? If he stays there for another minute, he 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 start crying, he is sure of it. At this moment, even the sight of Sebek who comes down the stairs, dressed as weirdly and fantasy-like as everyone else in the castle is a literal blessing. 

"Young master will see you now."

Oh wow, even this guy can talk in a normal volume if he really wants, Idia thinks, and nods with a slight bow in an effort to make himself look as polite as possible without opening his mouth. If he was any less stressed about this meeting, he just might have attempted to be polite 𝘢𝘯𝘥 audible.

Idia climbs into the half-circle of a room, a study, or library of sorts, richly and tastefully decorated. He cannot help but marvel at the ornate shelves filled with hell knows what types of interesting books. Filled to the brim, they line the walls in between the tall windows overlooking the Valley left and right. One can immediately tell this room belongs to Malleus, Idia thinks, roughly counting the various gargoyl-ish statuettes either guarding the bookshelves or just vibing in them, depending on their size. Malleus is sitting at the desk in the middle of the room, leaning on the armrest of his chair, its backrest eerily decorated with a dragon's jaw gaping wide open. To Idia's relief, it seems like the two of them will be alone.

"H-𝘩𝘦𝘺."

"Shroud. Hello. Not too nervous, I hope?"

Is it showing on his face that much?

"Mmm... I, uh… I’ve done easier things in life."

"Hm, and here I was hoping familiarity with the field will put you at ease. Well, let's go over this and then talk about some prettier things, shall we?"

"Y-yeah... thanks."

Idia takes the chair in front of Malleus' desk and opens his file. He specifically brought printouts to not scare Malleus with the amount of graphs and interactive formulas straight away.

"Alright, so... Please take a look."

"My eyes are on you."

Does 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 Malleus says has to sound so teasing? Idia breathes in, then giving in to his antsiness, stands up again to lean over the papers for better grip on the situation.

"Okay, so. Step one. Electricity. I didn't think we'd be dealing with that one, but since you've got it under control, I'm just going to skip this step. I think it might be beneficial to make sure that the castle has it ASAP, especially if you're conducting official meetings here, you know. We're gonna need to make those happen soon. Now, as for the internet. It usually goes hand in hand with telecommunication services. While phones are becoming a thing of the past, and rather quickly too, companies which provided landlines to physical locations have taken primacy over internet services nowadays. It was just their natural progression. Are you following so far?"

"Yes, I understand clearly. So, we need to hire a telecommunication company?"

"Correct. Now, since this is an affair of the state it should be as simple as making a public legal tender for a company which can provide you those services and compare their applications for the most reasonable option. You... don't happen to do those here, do you?"

"No. In the Valley, we are few, and with enough time at hand, so all recommendations for any skills can be done via word of mouth. But, of course, I am familiar with how it goes in the lands of humans. I do study human politics and economy with progress in mind, after all. We could arrange that."

"A-Awesome. Once we receive applications, we will have the time to assess and compare the applicants’ capabilities of providing us with what we need - something we will know with precision with the data I will collect from town during the next few days. So, I've compiled a list of seven companies, which, according to my opinion, might be good for the job. Take a look at the visual comparison of their recent performance and estimated growth. I took into account their proximity to the Valley of Thorns for the sake of implementation ease of their services. Three of them are located in the Rose Kingdom, four of them in the Land of Pyroxene. To start off with this one, which I think is the strongest candidate - 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘓𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤; they've been in the business for almost 50 years now...  
Malleus slowly drifts off from the companies’ exposé, looking at Idia's face. The duality of this human. So defiant and borderline incapable when it comes to simple things like talking to others, yet so devoted and mature when it comes to those few special things he has grown to excel at. Look at him. Not a trace of his usual peculiar way of talking. If he went ahead and asked a question about something, Malleus would likely receive an ardent dissertation breaking the topic down to the finest of particles. And to listen to those would be a pleasure. There is so much Malleus would like to know about.

Idia is at the sixth candidate when he notices that Malleus is staring very intently at his face... instead of the papers. 

His voice dies down slowly, and the confusion on his face becomes visible. Malleus protests.

"Oh, please do continue."

"Uh... can you follow this alright..?"

"I cannot pretend that I understand to the fullest what the data means, but I am aware that those represent key points based on which we will choose our provider. I really enjoy listening to you talk, though."

Idia blushes, unable to unlock his gaze from Malleus'. Feeling as if he has made a fool of himself already, Idia just blurts out the first thing spelled in big ass red letters in his head.

"... Why..?"

Malleus gets surprised himself. He cannot tell if this is a human thing, if perhaps his advances aren't affectionate enough, or if this question is simply a consequence of the boy being completely inept in face-to-face conversations.

"... Well... I enjoy learning new things from someone passionate about the things they teach... such as yourself. Your interest is infectious."

Idia takes a seat, very slowly, assessing Malleus' inner workings. What is the fairy's game? Aside from the regular, teasing one? 

"... Are machines really that interesting to you?"

"They weren't. In fact, they seem like the bane of my existence still. I deemed them unimportant. However, meeting you... No, getting to know you, and tasting your power on my own skin made me wonder about the things I lack. After learning all there is to magic, school did seem like quite a bore. Shame they don't teach about the new technologies over there.

"Well... In truth, they can't really, you know... Technology is developing too fast, even for humans who were born in its time. It requires constant attention to trailblazing individuals who improve certain aspects of it for everyone else, both in hardware and software."

"Hardware... software..?"

"Oh, dear. I - it doesn't matter really. I'm going to have to prepare for explaining those... in terms you can understand. I will, got it?"

Malleus smiles.

"Got it." 

"A-anyways, there's only one more company to mention. It's from the Rose Kingdom, and I don't think it will be exactly adequate for what we need, but I put it on the list nevertheless, because they are known to have given some crazy concessions to the Rose Kingdom court. We'd do well to ask for their offer too."

Malleus looks at the papers thoughtfully. 

"... M-Malleus?"

"Oh, sorry. You've... prepared for this quite thoroughly."

"I... this is the bare minimum. Are you sure you want to go through with this...? There's quite a lot of things to do..."

"I have decided. I will follow each step you prepare closely."

"But... I need your attention and understanding too. We need to make this work together."

"By all means."

Idia looks at Malleus' dreamy face. Alright. Get this over with, Idia, do it.

"Okay... now, a bigger issue in the long run would be teaching individuals to deal with technology. We can discuss this in depth later, but it has to be done. We need to have certain devices such as... phones, and personal computers distributed among people and have them rely on the benefits of these devices. I can't say I have any ideas, in particular, except organizing... courses, or classes, which are going to prepare people for this..."

"That sounds reasonable."

"Needless to say, I would be the worst possible choice for a teacher. And... not because I am not particularly good at live interaction."

Malleus chuckles.

"I would not dream to burden you with that, Shroud."

Idia gets a feeling that he is being teased.

"Hey, I am pretty sure that fairies would be even less fond of listening about tech out of a human's mouth."

"That we agree on. We'll find someone do to it, no worries."

Idia slouches and looks aside. Malleus wonders why he always looks so conflicted. He hopes it's not his fault.

"Anything else?"

Idia gives him a glance.

"W-well... all that's left for now is to send formal invitations to these companies. The sooner, the better..."

"They will be delivered tomorrow, then. I'll have the council prepare them first thing in the morning."

"Awesome... So… here's the list for you…"

Malleus looks at Idia, expectant.

"So... Since you'll be staying here for a while. Would you like to take a look at my library, maybe?"

"Oh... C-can I..?"

"For as long as you wish."

Idia approaches the closest shelf reluctantly, suppressing his eagerness. Malleus gets up to watch him as he goes through the books slowly, touching their spines very carefully, as if not to hurt them. He's very excited to finally show off his book collection to someone. Several minutes pass in absolute silence, packed with both Malleus and Idia trying not to rave about the various titles found in the library, fearing that the other one will find it obnoxious. Finally, Idia finds a book he cannot easily move away from and spends some extra time watching the golden embellishments on its side carefully. Noticing, Malleus approaches, and realizing that a book on summoning from one of the upper shelves caught Idia's eye, comes to help him reach it. Idia steps back in front of the window for Malleus to get it for him. He hands the book to Idia.

"Ah... I - thank you."

"You are very interested in summoning."

"I... I'm kinda good at it. Hah... Though that probably doesn't mean much in your terms."

"I wonder. Well, please let me know if this book ends up being too easy... or too much for you."

"Hoping for the latter, actually..."

Malleus smiles at the comment.

"You're the ever-learning type. I like that about you." 

The obvious sarcasm coming from Idia's chuckle confuses Malleus.

"You aren't?"

"No, I... Ha, this must all sound so funny to you. Here I am about to say 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸, but I can tell how stupid and insignificant it would be from your perspective."

Malleus closes in on Idia, leaning into the window with an almost offended expression. 

"And why do you think I would consider that funny or insignificant?"

"I mean... I think I would, if I were you. Aren't all humans... childrenlike, in comparison to the rich life you get to experience? Those guys… your 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯… Why are they bothering, four years of learning? You are probably older than the rest of Diasomnia put together."

Malleus sighs, now slightly agitated, rubs his nose, and then looks at Idia seriously.

"Listen. First of all, I am not 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 old, alright? Second, frivolous or not, do you think I would even bother going to a 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 which accepts mostly human students without considering the pacing at which they grow and learn? Finally, what sort of opinion do you think I have about 𝘺𝘰𝘶, to have you here with an important task at hand, simply to call out your life funny or insignificant?"

Idia gapes at Malleus, his heart beating fast. Is this fear? Fear of what, that he offended him or his reasoning? Or that he never saw Malleus this tilted, because of something he said too. The fairy's green eyes shine with sharpness aimed directly at Idia. He needs to defend himself.

"I-I...I'm sorry... It's just... ᴵ'ᵐ ᵘˢᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵐʸ ˢᵏⁱˡˡˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ⁱⁿᵗᵉʳᵉˢᵗˢ ᵇᵉⁱⁿᵍ ᵗʳᵉᵃᵗᵉᵈ ˡⁱᵍʰᵗˡʸ... by regular p-people who probably wouldn't be able to replicate any of my feats... I... figured a superior being such as yourself could not care less... I still can't understand your interest in humans, or... in me... Why...? I am a creature with no future..."

Malleus immediately regrets his tone and the manner in which he phrased his explanation.

"I... no, I am sorry. I simply... I have said it before, but it would not be an overstatement that I am astonished with humans. You live for a hundred years, yet mature so quickly and accomplish so much in a short period of time, with limited resources and capacities. It is... truly wondrous."

Idia holds the book in silence, hugging one of his arms with the other. Malleus knows this defensive stance of his. This... seems to be going for the worse. Where did all of his verbal skill go? At this rate, he's going to have his companion want to never come out again during his stay. 

"Shroud. I am not good at this. Please tell me how to make you understand."

Idia dares peek up at Malleus', now tortured face. Oh god, look what you've done. He won't invite you anywhere else. He will probably uninvite you from his life too, he thinks. He hides his face behind the book, if only it wasn't that precious to him, he would try hard to knock himself out cold with it, just to 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 -

"I-I'm so sorry! I'm just a stupid shut-in... ᵍᵒᵒᵈ ᶠᵒʳ ⁿᵒᵗʰⁱⁿᵍ ⁱᵈⁱᵒᵗ ᵒⁿˡʸ ᶠᵘᶜᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵘᵖ ᵉᵛᵉʳʸ ˢⁱⁿᵍˡᵉ ᶜʰᵃⁿᶜᵉ ᴵ ᵍᵉᵗ ⁻"

"Shroud, Shroud, Shroud..."

Malleus takes Idia's wrists gently, lowering his arms to uncover his face, seeing that he is about to cry. So, this is what it feels like to be helpless? To have all the power in this world at the tips of one's fingers, yet be completely at a loss when it comes to consoling... a human. Malleus' throat tightens, as he draws Idia's hands holding the book as firmly as a beast would hold its prey closer to his chest.

"...Please, believe me..."

Before he can react in any way, Idia is pulled into a hug, his arms hanging stupidly as Malleus' lean frame envelops his torso. He finds it hard to perceive anything, other than the locks of Malleus' hair in his face and the distinct smell of his body, reminiscent of cedar, making his mind go completely blank. The beating of his heart makes Idia fear that the blasted thing will crash land out of his chest and into Malleus' ribcage. Heavens and hell, this feeling... This cursed feeling, that has probably taken a few years from his life already... He wishes that it never lets him go.

Malleus sinks into the intense warmth of Idia's body. After what could either have been minutes or years, feeling the beastly side of his senses wake, he decides that sadly, it might best to separate... for now. They make eye contact, after which they jointly decide not to question how they got there. Idia gives in.

"I... I'm really sorry. I just... I don't believe anyone could like me... deliberately... that easily... I lose it so easily…"

Malleus looks at Idia tenderly.

"You're beautiful."

Idia hides his face with the book again.

"W-why do you keep being so straightforward after ᴵ ˢᵃⁱᵈ ˢᵗᵘᵖⁱᵈ ᵗʰⁱⁿᵍˢ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᵗʰⁱˢ???"

"I suppose I just am like that."

Idia peeks behind the book. Malleus sees this as a chance to fix the situation they're in.

"So... You don't happen to have the continuation of that series we watched prior to leaving the school with you here, do you?"

Idia's face lights up. 

"D-damn straight I do! But... Actually..."

"Something wrong?"

"I uh... promised to play a game tonight, in fact... I really can't skip out on that... It's the one I play with Lilia..."

Malleus is almost amused with Idia's disappointed expression.

"Now, that is a shame... May I watch, then?"

"Huh..? You'd be interested in watching me play?"

"Would I be a bother?"

"N-not at all. If you don't get bored halfway we can still watch anime after I'm done."

"That would be most delightful."

\-----------

After Idia returns to his room on foot with a wave goodnight and an "I'm busy" wink at Ortho, and Malleus already having untraceably warped himself there, the rest of the night passes with a negligible dose of awkwardness. With Malleus peeking at the MMORPG raid over Idia's shoulder, asking him various questions about characters and weapons, most of them related to Lilia's and Idia's player avatars, focusing on the game is a little difficult for Idia, but he manages to excel nonetheless. By the time they retire to watch 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘦 on the fantastic mechanism that is the 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳, Malleus still doesn't understand why Idia's character is a girl with cat ears, or why Lilia plays a 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥-𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 named after an armored fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat of human design. 

After two episodes of action packed anime that the two perceive less than their own presence next to one another, and some Gao gao gifts exchange, at Idia's request, Malleus puts him to magical sleep of promise for a good tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥-𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 named after an armored fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat of human design is a 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘬 -   
> Ok I am sorry for doing so many weird slowburnish meetings, I promise we get to meet the grandma next chapter. Enjoy, love you all!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Malleus and Idia show each other some of their hopes and fears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An unusually lengthy pause; but the chapter is appropriately long as a "sorry". It was quite difficult for me to write this particular one, but I decided on many plot points for the future thanks to it. I will try to revert to the original length of a chapter ~5k words with shorter wait time. Enjoy..!  
> Bonus illustration at the end of the chapter :)

Five days later, Idia and Ortho are finally out in the field. Ortho is just happy that his brother gets to stretch his legs and not stay in the castle all day, every day. In all honesty, he misses him a bit, and while he has permission to wander the castle and scan all the novelties he finds around, even that gets old after a while. Now the two of them are running an inspection of the newly completed power transforming facility - a large, previously vacant space near the outer wall of the town. While they wait for answers from the companies Idia suggested they should contact, the brothers are making sure that the town's power source is stable and dependable. Fine tuning voltage according to their calculations for all the possible needs of 70 households plus the entire castle is a bit tedious. But it's a completely routine process, so Ortho is helping Idia assess his performance of gathering new drops in the seasonal gacha event.

"It's a waste of time to go into the game six times a day."

"But it's the optimal organic energy usage... You know it."

"Yeah, but if you log in at the time of server reset, you could also crush the daily hard energy and get the same output with only five log ins."

"I caaaaan't... That's 7am, do you think I'm gonna wake up for that? 𝘋𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 a 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺? No way... Plus I gotta conserve hard energy!"

"Well... First, you got better things to do, don't you? And if I go to sleep an hour earlier and power up sooner too, I can do that for you, you know."

"You would?"

"If I do it, you'll be able to devote more time to... going on walks with me... or having fun with Malleus Draconia-sama."

Idia crawls under one of the transformer units, almost completely disappearing under it.

"H-hey... I don't spend that much time with him, don't tease..."

"Brother, I can duck under there with my precision gear for you. And I'm not teasing, I think it's a genuine plan. Unless you don't want to? I can leave the boring farming entirely to you..."

"Oh, come on, you're ˡⁱᵗᵉʳᵃˡˡʸ ᵗᵒʸⁱⁿᵍ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵐᵉ ⁿᵒʷ, you know I can't say no. And I can do this myself you know! I'm not ready to be replaced by precision gear just yet -"

Idia's tablet rings with the special ringtone he set for Malleus' messages only. 

"Ortho, push that towards me please."

Idia grabs the floating tablet from under the transformer. The message reads: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. (◕‿◕) 

He smiles, happy that he is out of sight. God. Such formal sentences... topped off with an emoticon. How typical. Ortho peeks below the transformer.

"What does he say?"

"O-ORTHO - nothing, h-he is coming now -"

Before he could finish the sentence, Malleus knocks on the already open door of the house and enters.

"Little Shroud."

"Malleus Draconia-sama!"

"Is your work going smoothly?"

"We're all done, in fact. Brother double-checks everything, though..."

"Where is he?"

"O-over here..."

Idia crawls out rear-first from beneath the machine, and dusting off his knees, gets up to face Malleus, who frowns."

"Shroud. Are you alright?"

"I... think I am?"

"Your eyes are bloodshot."

"Uh... I may have stayed up until 5... ha...ha..."

Malleus raises an eyebrow, then decides to withhold his comments in front of the child.

"There's news. The queen... My grandmother... The Witch of Thorns would like to meet you."

Idia blinks at Malleus.

"Huh. Alright, then."

"The Witch of Thorns? One of the Great Seven?"

"Y-yeah, I know who the esteemed lady is... Did something change?"

"You're not... surprised? Concerned? Anything?"

"Oh, I am. You just missed the brunt of my reaction. ᵀʰᵃⁿᵏˢ ᵗᵒ ᴸⁱˡⁱᵃ⁻ˢʰⁱ..."

Malleus scratches his chin. Ortho elaborates.

"Lilia Vanrouge-san has kindly explained about Her Majesty the Queen."

Surprised, Malleus seems almost embarrassed.

"I... Uh... I am sorry for not telling you about this before. Yes, The Witch of Thorns is my grandmother."

Idia scratches his head, still in disbelief. No matter how many times he hears this, he won't grow used to it.

"Y-yeah... awesome... ᶠᵉᵃʳᶠᵘˡ... and she wants to meet me."

"Yes. I will be there with you, though, so I hope it goes smoothly. Don't be scared."

"Easy for you to say..."

"Brother, surely it will be alright if Malleus Draconia-sama goes with you."

"Oh, it will be... something... I might live to tell the tale. Gee..."

"She... wants to meet you this afternoon."

"WHAT -"

"See, brother, the sooner it's over with, the better, isn't it?"

Idia crouches and grabs his hair with both of his hands. He tried to be cool and play the shock off in front of Malleus, but now he just wishes to vaporize -

"Άδη, με πάρει"

"Brother, not here..."

Ortho pats Idia's hair softly.

"I'm okay... I'm okay..."

"If it is any consolation, grandmother probably won't even converse with you. You just have to... stand there. She has not talked to me since I came back."

"W-what do you mean..? What does she want me for then?"

Malleus looks towards the door, assessing how close the guards are to entrance.

"You said you are done here? Let us return to the castle then."

Idia gets up. 

"Y-yeah... let's."

After the brothers pick up their tools, the three of them make their way through the main town street in silence, followed closely by two guards. Arriving to the front courtyard, Malleus calls them off and the party proceeds towards the castle.

"Alas, I am sure my tone and familiarity are misinterpreted in the ears of guards. What I wanted to say is, the Queen is very tired and... if I may so describe, unamused by people and things around her. As you probably know, her power is beyond comprehension. It is enough to show yourself before her, and you have already said more than you'd like to. Now, I am not saying this to scare you even more... nor that she can read your thoughts... exactly... But she can sense some things. So, don't worry. She is much more familiar with humans than I am. This might even prove beneficial."

"Uuuuugh... ᴵ ᶠᵉᵉˡ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᴵ ʷᵃⁿⁿᵃ ᵇᵉ ᵈʳᵘⁿᵏ ᶠᵒʳ ᵗʰⁱˢ..."

Ortho and Malleus both look at Idia with a raised eyebrow. Drunk? Humans and wines work together in an unpredictable fashion, to Malleus' knowledge... How does he read into this? Does Idia want them to drink and relax after the audience together..? Is this... 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥? Should he arrange for some ice cream? How exactly does he confirm this in front of his child brother??? 

"I can arrange for a selection of wines to be delivered to your room in anticipation of the evening..."

"Malleus Draconia-sama, don't let him drink before the audience, he needs to be himself. Heavens, brother, what are you suggesting..."

Ah, so, a distraction. Malleus is slightly disappointed. Idia sighs.

"Not like I can't take my alcohol, you know."

"But we're not taking any chances for such an important event, brother."

"ʸᵉˢ, ᴼʳᵗʰᵒ..."

"Little Shroud, if it doesn't pose a problem to you, I would like a word with your brother, in private."

Ortho perks up.

"Oh, of course. Well then, I'll get back to my room and compile today's data, brother."

"Y-yeah... Thank you, Ortho."

Ortho leaves the two staring at each other. 

"So... Shroud. I am concerned about you."

"Wha... concerned?"

"Yes. I leave you awake for one night and you look like you haven't slept a week..."

"Ah - ᵗʰᵃᵗ - I, uh... I forgot to go to sleep in time. I've been neglecting my games lately... I'll be fine... this happens all the time, don't worry."

"I was actually hoping to take you... to that place, tonight. It seems that the evening is going to be cloudy."

"You sure aim to end me today, ᵈᵒ ʸᵒᵘ..."

Malleus smirks.

"Maybe I do. Care to find out?"

"I..! I... UGH, do I even have a choice still?"

"Hmpf. I would like to say that you do but... By now, I am pretty certain that your curiosity often gets the better of you. So... I will send someone for you around 4:30. Have a pleasant lunch, Shroud."

With a teasing flick of his cape, Malleus makes his way for the castle main hall, leaving Idia dazed and confused in the courtyard. After two minutes or so standing there, Idia makes for his room double time, worried that he might throw up along the way, which would definitely make this day 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 spicy.

\-----------

Malleus is standing in the throne room wrapped in the literal darkness his grandmother emanates from her seat, waiting for Idia Shroud to be announced when she wishes for it. He never quite considered the lady old, but during the last years of her preparation for throne abdication, it has become quite obvious how weary she becomes when it comes to business of the state, and infinite loops of maintaining the kingdom in balance. With him taking over the majority of trivial issues, she has become engrossed in what he believes are more interesting thoughts, quite possibly about the vast, desolate valleys in the north that stretch much farther beyond the Peak and into the frozen wastes of the pole. Many years of the long life of this dark fairy are weighing heavy on her and it shows.

Even though he has sworn not to mention or ask about his mother, and in all honesty being at peace with this state of affairs, Malleus cannot help but occasionally wonder... out of pure curiosity, what would the life in the castle look like had she chosen to inherit the legacy of the Valley? Would he have been able to meet Maleficent, or learn from her? This truly is for the best, he reaffirms his thoughts, as she casually waves her hand to signal in a "let us see what we have here" manner of gesture. Curious, Malleus perks up for Idia's entrance.

Idia enters through the large door and in between heavy, black curtains into the throne room stoically, and his pale complexion somehow shines even paler than usual in the weak light. If he is scared, and he probably is, he doesn't quite show it, as the facade he never quite efforts to pull up in school is visibly present. He looks half-asleep. That he is indeed a child from a noble house apparently does show in what he was taught. Malleus did end up sending him the aforementioned selection of wine, but he doubts Ortho allowed his brother to partake. With a polite nod, he gestures Idia to join him where he stands. Idia approaches, giving Malleus a sad glance - which might as well have been a cry for help? He can never tell. Facing the Queen of the Valley properly, Idia makes a rather elegant bow. The queen barely flicks her hand in acceptance. Standing this close to him, Malleus can hear the alarmed drum of Idia's heart.

Now comes the waiting game. Braindead, Idia gathers the strength - or the foolishness - to look up at the Queen, whose face is only vaguely visible through the ominous cloud of black smoke that surrounds her. He cannot tell what she exactly looks like, save for the obvious; horns of a dragon, melding perfectly into the shadow of her figure, and the eyes, green, and unmistakably slit-pupiled, even from that distance. The wicked glow which they give off pales only in comparison with the darkness of the slit, a void to swallow all the light in the world. Surely enough, Maleficent watches the boy with the flaming hair. Judges him. Looking him in the eye, she weighs his mind, his body and soul. 

In silence, minutes pass. Idia doesn't dare look away anymore. What is he allowed to think about, even? Can she feel it? He is standing in front of the unquestionably strongest living mage on this planet, studying the shape of her horns, comparing it to those of his crush. Not that he had anything to compare them to previously. And not that he isn't trying hard to resist grabbing the crush's hand in fear of retribution. The last semester of this school year flashes before his eyes. A series of weird events, following some unseen pattern... a pattern possibly decided by the Fates. Far too complex for him to see or understand, with all his brainpower, but one which led him from building a seamless text-to-speech software for VDC... to being closely inspected by one of the great Seven, who also happens to be a direct ancestor to the weirdo who made Idia fall in love with him.

Malleus watches the stare-off from the sidelines, slightly impressed that the boy decided to return the Queen's gaze. That she hasn't moved for a while, or sent him away already - for he has seen this kind of audiences quite a few times already - he takes as a sign that she is intrigued. He hopes she is not 𝘵𝘰𝘰 intrigued, as to start... asking questions...

Luckily for both, Maleficent finally gestures the boy away. Repeating his dignified bow and ever so slightly exhaling for only Malleus to hear, Idia backs off towards the door guards and leaves followed by them. Malleus takes the exit cue, and bowing himself, turns to leave his grandmother in her peace. 

"Child, stay." - Maleficent interrupts him.

Surprised, Malleus turns towards her, bending slightly with this arm across his chest.

"My queen."

"A servant of the Underworld you take, for your advisor, child... ha..." 

Maleficent chuckles and her wicked smirk gives way to light on her prominent cheekbones. Not that Malleus hasn't anticipated that she would comment on this...

"So I do."

The queen stands and her attaché slides the curtains to her exit aside in preparation. She descends the stairs off the podium her throne stands on and heads out.

"An apple truly never falls far from the tree."

Malleus shrugs. Seeing Shroud, she entered Malleus' own head instead of his. Nothing ever really slides past his esteemed grandmother. To truly understand fairies and humans alike in this manner is a skill Malleus would kill to possess.

\-----------

Some time after midnight, Malleus finds himself on Idia's balcony yet again. He is bold enough to dangle his beloved human in his very own castle under everyone's noses, but entering the room through the main door like a decent person would definitely spark some wrong - but not untrue comments. He cannot afford to be 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 bold just yet, not until he is king. Clad in his flying leathers, his shoulder blades naked and cold, he fidgets with the folded cloaks he brought with him, watching the flaming-haired human sleep inside.

He hesitates to enter and wake the boy. The quiet pulsating of the blue flame evokes some unspoken emotions in him, and he stands entranced. To lie down peacefully enveloped by the blue flame besides his body seems like wishful thinking. Grandmother's remark from earlier has somewhat shaken him, and he wonders where he is going with this course of action. He stands there in thought for a few more minutes before deciding that he'll look like a bigger fool if he doesn't make good on his promise. The night is dark and cloudy, unlike what is expected for the next few days.

Sparks fly and he appears inside the room. Not wasting time anymore, he sits on the bed next to a sleeping Idia and gently shakes his shoulder.

"Shroud, wake up."

Idia groans and pushes his face deeper into the pillow. Not five seconds later, as if remembering something, he flinches and looks at Malleus wide-eyed in between the messy flaming locks.

"Guh... I fell asleep..."

Malleus laughs a bit, eyeing the almost empty bottle of wine on one of the bedside tables.

"Quite comfortably, too, it seems. Made me wonder if I should even wake you up."

"I... uhhhh, my head... This was not a part of my plan..."

"You can always go back to sleep..."

"N-no way..."

Still sleepy but determined to show his enthusiasm for the outing, Idia springs up to his feet too fast and almost collapses on the floor before Malleus grabs his wrist and pulls him back to the bed. Idia sighs, then looks at Malleus, checking out his outfit.

"D-damn... ˢʰᵒᵘˡᵈ'ᵛᵉ ᵏⁿᵒʷⁿ ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ⁱⁿᵗᵒ ᵇᵈˢᵐ, ᵇᵘᵗ ᵒⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ᶠⁱʳˢᵗ ᵈᵃᵗᵉ..?

Not quite understanding what Idia is muttering but ready to play along, Malleus leans over Idia, coming dangerously close to his face.

"You're going to have to talk 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘳, Shroud."

"EEEE-I-I-I...! I..! Uuuhhh..."

Malleus chuckles, backing off and standing up. He offers Idia a hand. Exhaling loudly, Idia accepts it and Malleus pulls him up.

"I...uh... I said, I really like your outfit."

"Oh. Why, thank you. This is what I wear when flying."

Confusion, then understanding dawns on Idia's face.

"We're going to 𝘧𝘭𝘺."

"How else should we plan to sneak out of the castle unnoticed? Please let me know if you learn of a better way."

"I... uh... magical teleport?"

"At that distance, for you and me, too strong of a magical residue. There's people here who would instantly detect that."

"Right... fairies... magic signature... ugh, why can they notice that..."

"Wouldn't be able to maintain security in the castle otherwise."

"Yeah... makes sense..."

"Anyways, wear something warm. It's frosty outside."

"I 𝘯-𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥... you call this summer over here...?"

"I presume it's different where you are from?"

"I- uh, of course? I live at the seaside... It's a 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 -"

"Stop - stop, stop. We go now. You may tell me when we get there."

"I - ! Uh, what do I wear!?"

"Wear warm. Looks don't matter today."

"Uh, right..."

Idia unearths the warmest piece of clothing he brought from the bottom of one of his luggage cases - one he never imagined he would wear here, not 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 - a warm grey hoodie with a big print of a carrot. It was a farm simulator seasonal loot from the only con he ever tried attending, before he enrolled NRC and decided he'd rather not mingle with people ever again. For the better or for worse, he ended up scoring one of the last remaining hoodies, so he was left with a size XXL, and he could still... fit in it... four or fivefold.

He places his arms akimbo, unimpressed with himself, eyeing his leather-clad fairy dom, then the happy carrot on his hoodie. He sighs. Malleus chuckles, looking at Idia's blobby top while he tucks all of his hair inside the hood safely.

"Good. That looks warm."

"I'll get my payback for this. Somehow." 

Malleus shakes his head and unfolds one of the cloaks to cover Idia with it, all the while biting his laughter.

"That too? Wee, I'm a Little Black Riding Hood now."

"Come."

Instructing Idia to hold onto the other folded cloak, Malleus opens the balcony door into the foggy night and closes it behind Idia, who hugs the piece of cloth like it's his last.

"Can I get some, uh... tutorial for this?"

"Yes. Come here."

Malleus opens his arms towards Idia, who carefully approaches him. Making a circle around him, Malleus faces Idia sideways and in a second, picks him up bridal style. Idia squeals. Malleus steps up onto the balcony railing. Idia grabs the fairy's shoulder and pressing the cloak between their bodies, hugs him tightly around his neck.

"Y-you-you won't drop me - will you!?"

Malleus smirks. 

"There you are, thinking so lowly of me again."

With a shudder, he releases his black, boney wings.

"Oh ˡᵒʳᵈ -"

Malleus looks around below them towards where the courtyard should be somewhere in the fog.

"Here is your 𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭; just try not to move your legs too much, alright?"

Saying that, he drops into the pitch black cloudy night.

Expecting the ghastly fall to last for a longer while, Idia curls up hard into Malleus' chest, almost digging his nails into the leather above his wing openings. Strangely, after his stomach leaves him in the initial shock, the glide feels rather comfortable. Soon enough, they are flying right above the pine tree tops and Malleus starts flapping his wings to compensate for the lost momentum. He never quite had a chance to carry anyone while flying, but it proves to be just as easy as he expected. Unable to see Idia's face, he focuses on his wild heartbeat instead.

"Is the flight bothering you? I know you are not particularly fond of the broom either."

"I-ᴵ'ˡˡ ᵇᵉ ᶠⁱⁿᵉ..." , Idia whispers into Malleus' neck.

"Your heart is pounding."

"I-I don't think it's the flying...ᴵᵗ'ˢ... ᵘʰ.. ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ˢᵒ ᶜˡᵒˢᵉ... ᵗʰᵉ ʷᵃʸ ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ʰᵒˡᵈⁱⁿᵍ ᵐᵉ..."

"Fufu... Don't you worry... It's no different from how I carried you out of that bath..."

"HEAVENS, YOU'RE THE WORST!"

"Oh - but, I know..."

Idia twists his head as far away from Malleus' neck as he can. He looks over his shoulder at the treetops and the rocky spires lining one after another in between the trees some miles away. Taking in the dark, magnificent scenery, Idia slowly relaxes again and lowers his head back on the fairy's shoulder.

"S-say.. How did we get here?"

Slowing down for just a bit, slightly taken aback by the question, Malleus tries to look at Idia's face.

"You mean, you and I?"

"Yes... I mean... We barely knew anything about each other half a year ago... before the overblot situations..."

"Hm, well... That is not entirely true. I did learn many things about you since we first met. You piqued my interest rather easily. You stand out, whether you want it or not."

"Yeah, ᴵ ⁿᵒᵗⁱᶜᵉᵈ... But why now..?"

"Well, as you said... you happened to be there for that overblot issue of mine... I cannot quite describe the particular feeling but... surprise, that I was taken down at that time, even weakened as such, was still the most notable."

"Y-yeah... I did try my best but... I honestly didn't expect you to fall so fast."

"That day..."

Malleus stops. No, he is not ready to talk about his lack of control right now. Idia senses that he changed his mind.

"What happened that day?"

"I... It is a difficult and tedious explanation. It is not adequate for our outing."

Idia doesn't press it. A dose of uneasy sadness strikes his gut. Everywhere, he hits roadblocks when asking about Malleus' sensitive spots. 

"Look, Shroud. We are approaching the place."

Remains of what was obviously once a very tall castle tower over the two of them and all of lands around. Sitting on top of a steep mountain, encircled by the typical but no less wicked-looking thorny rock formations, it somehow manages to look even more menacing than the capital of the Valley, in all of its ruination. Malleus starts ascending.

"This is my grandmother's old castle. The one she used to rule from, before deciding to make the Valley 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦, for your... humans' sake."

"W-what a lovely destination."

"Ha, it's one of my favorites in the Valley... Do not worry, after five centuries, most of her energy has faded away from the place. It feels quite lighthearted now."

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 all it took!? Damn."

Curling up into Malleus' embrace not to see the rest of the ascent, Idia closes his eyes and tries to count to calm himself. It's only truly coming to him now that this 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 thing is really happening. A wave of unnatural cold washes over his body from head to toe. Before he knows it, Malleus lands them on the cold, hard ground again, and slowly lowers Idia's legs to help him stand.

"Here it is. I daresay, my place of peace... for quite some time now."

Just a tad bit above the clouds, the elevated circular space, reminiscent of the Queen's current throne room, stands moonlit and decrepit, most of the outer walls completely crumbled. Every way he looks, Idia sees just an endless cloud horizon. Truly... this isn't something he expected. Malleus takes his slightly ajar mouth as a good sign.

"I... Didn't quite expect the clouds to go this low today... but I suppose this is fine as well."

Idia looks back at the fairy, quietly conveying the awe in which he found himself in. Malleus feels something oddly comforting in his contentment.

"May I take that?"

Realizing Malleus wants the extra cloak he carries, Idia hands it over to him. Wrapping himself in it, Malleus nudges Idia towards the ledge overlooking the shining, moonlit sea of clouds. He sits down in a spot where the thick wall is cleanly gone, dangling his legs into the void. Idia follows his example albeit more carefully. 

"So... you were talking about summer at home."

"Y-yeah... I, uh, live on an island."

"That much I know."

"Well, summers are very warm over there, but windy too... I don't go out much though, I don't really like spending time in the sun..."

"The sea... what is it like?"

"Uh... sea like any other...? We do get some tall waves in fall and winter though..."

"No, I mean... what is it like... in the sea... you do bathe in it, yes..?"

Idia looks at Malleus super confused.

"I... uh... you're interested in my experience or...?"

"I am interested in any experience. Closest I have ever been is the beach on the Island of Sages, but that was... only seeing it for a short while." 

"So you... never went for a swim in the sea?"

"Not once. I would like to try that sometime."

Idia looks surprised at Malleus for a few moments. Malleus' gentle face is always enigmatic.

"M-maybe... you'd like to come over to my place... sometime... I... uh... 𝘞𝘦 could to the beach together."

Malleus smiles.

"Maybe sometime... when I am king."

He looks somberly into the distance. Idia seeks his gaze somewhat worriedly.

"What do you mean? Isn't that like... in a few years?"

"No freedom of traveling before then, when there is no one above me to forbid it."

"Oh..."

Malleus smiles.

"Do not be bothered by it, that obstacle is almost out of the way."

"I... I see..."

Both sit quiet for a few moments. 

"Are you afraid of me, Shroud?"

Idia stares at Malleus. 

"What?"

"Are you?"

"I - uh, I don't think I am...?"

"You don't think..."

"No - I - I'm not! I'm not..."

Malleus smiles at Idia softly. 

"I really, ʳᵉᵃˡˡʸ, ᵃᵐ ⁿᵒᵗ..."

Malleus reaches into his cloak.

"You see... usually I find it amusing when humans are but... you are an exception. Why is that...?"

He takes out a fragment of paper which Idia immediately recognizes, in horror. Malleus holds it over his eye playfully, with the biggest smile. Idia blushes like crazy.

"ˢ⁻ˢᵒ ⁱᵗ ʷᵃˢ ʷⁱᵗʰ ʸᵒᵘ ᵃˡˡ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵗⁱᵐᵉ..."

"It is very pretty."

Idia looks to the side in shame.

"I assume you saw the rest of it too, then..."

"I sure did."

"ʸᵒᵘ ᵏⁿᵉʷ ᵃᵇᵒᵘᵗ ⁱᵗ ᵃˡˡ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵗⁱᵐᵉ..."

Malleus nods cheekily.

"ˢᵒ... ʷʰᵃᵗ ᵈⁱᵈ ʸᵒᵘ ᵗʰⁱⁿᵏ ᵒᶠ ⁱᵗ...?"

"I liked it very much. Would like to have kept the entire thing."

Idia scratches the back of his neck. 

"Yyyeah well... I couldn't quite... stop myself."

"I don't blame you."

"I could... make you another one some time."

"I would like that. But, I do believe I promised to play for you before... and we never quite had the chance to do that yet."

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦..."

The sea of clouds quietly rolls beneath their feet and slaps the shores of the throne room.

"Tell me about your life, Shroud."

"My life, huh... I... Well, I like games..."

"No, I mean, tell me about your past."

"ᵍᵉᵉ, ᵃʳᵉⁿ'ᵗ ʸᵒᵘ ᵒⁿᵉ ᶠᵒʳ qᵘᵉˢᵗⁱᵒⁿˢ ᵗᵒᵈᵃʸ. So... Anyways... I was born in the Isle of Lamentation... I have lived there my entire life, I will inherit the household, and it is where I will die. All I knew was flaming hair relatives, magic books, games, and later Ortho when I was a kid... In retrospect, that was the happiest time of my life. Then I went to school in the port town for a short while. That didn't quite go so... swimmingly. Had to switch to home tutoring..."

"You had trouble at school?"

"Oh, school itself was easy. But it was then that I fully realized that... I'm a freak, and that no one was really fond of my looks. Well, my hair, in particular."

"Humans are so peculiar. Your hair is the most beautiful amongst them all. That flame is gorgeous."

Idia starts fidgeting with the cloak. 

"ᴵ... ᵘʰ... hell you're weird... ʰᵒʷ ᵈᵒ ᴵ ʳᵉˢᵖᵒⁿᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵗʰᵃᵗ..."

Malleus chuckles.

"A-anyways... then parents decided that I should actually 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 and off I was sent to a different school... that wasn't going well either, ˢᵘʳᵖʳⁱˢᵉ ˢᵘʳᵖʳⁱˢᵉ. Until... Ortho died. Then I came back home for good... and then got invited to NRC."

"So, your brother actually passed away not long ago..."

"Almost four years ago, in fact... But it does feel like both ten years and yesterday..."

"And you are the one who created the body he currently resides in?"

"Yeah. It might be obvious, but this is not the first body of his. I made seven up to this point."

"So... you had an interest in technology even before you made any of them?"

"Of course. Made things ever since... I can remember anything, really."

"I still don't fully understand, why machines? Your magic practices are pretty powerful for a human."

"Magic can't do 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, you know, especially if one is, as you said, 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯."

"But neither can technology. Or, in some cases, it is too slow."

"So I use 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩. Except that unlike magical potency, the development of technology isn't capped at one's body endurance or blot capacity."

"So you have told me. You try to use the best of both. Then how does 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 tie in with those? You didn't conjure your brother's mind out of thin air, I presume."

Idia's mind blocks. No, he cannot discuss the matters of the Underworld. He best not, no matter how much he trusts Malleus. However, the fairy obviously senses something unknown about Ortho, and that something isn't the machinery involved.

"Of course I - what does have to do with anything? Surely you are aware that some magic rituals exist only for those cursed lives of ours..."

Malleus falls back.

"I do not aim to make you talk about things you are not allowed to."

"No, I - listen... what I'd like the most is to break free... from 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 life... from this curse." 

Idia grinds his teeth with a bitter smile. 

"Wherever I went, it ᵈᵉˢᵗʳᵒʸᵉᵈ ᵉᵛᵉʳʸᵗʰⁱⁿᵍ ⁱᵗ ᵗᵒᵘᶜʰᵉᵈ."

"But I truly think you don't do that."

Idia looks at Malleus. The hooded blue flame looks heartbroken.

"You wouldn't know that."

"Unless I saw for myself, I wouldn't believe it."

"Y-you know... if you get too close... you might become a victim of my curse too."

Idia's eyes glimmer. Malleus comes closer with the gentlest smile. He brings a finger to his eye to keep a tear from falling.

"The only thing I can do to ᵏᵉᵉᵖ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵖⁱᵗⁱᶠᵘˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ is to play by the rules..."

"Well then... I'm happy to inform you that I am immune to just about any curse there is."

Idia chuckles.

"You're something, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦 guy."

Malleus rolls his eyes with a laugh.

"I was born special super rare."

Idia can't hold in a laugh at the fairy prince's cheesy lines.

"A-anyways... you ask why tech... well... I have to use and abuse all those holes in the rulebook... And you can bet no one from the Underworld counted on the development of magitech."

"Or your intelligence, apparently..."

"Eh, come on, I am not the first to go this way... Hell, who knows where I'd be if I wasn't exposed to tech when I was a kid. It'd be the end of the depressive Shroud line a long time ago if not for it, there on the stupid Isle."

"I still think you are special."

Idia pouts.

"You ᵐᵒᶜᵏ ᵐᵉ, ᵖʳᵃⁱˢⁱⁿᵍ ᵐᵉ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵐᵘᶜʰ, ˢᵉʳⁱᵒᵘˢˡʸ... Anyways, how come only you get to ask questions..? Whenever I poke a 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵, you just evade it entirely... that's no fair."

Malleus laughs. 

"Are you cold?"

"SEE, YOU JUST DID IT - !"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I jest... But really, are you cold?"

"Uh... yeah, a bit..."

Malleus moves closer towards Idia and throws his cloak over him, wrapping them both into it. Close to Malleus again, Idia's heart starts beating faster.

"ᴹᵃˡˡᵉᵘˢ ᴰʳᵃᶜᵒⁿⁱᵃ: ᵉᵛᵃˢⁱᵒⁿ ˢᵏⁱˡˡ; ⁹⁷..."

"Now, you may ask whatever you wish... and I shall answer to the best of my ability. Just leave... that one 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 for later, that will be a monologue of mine."

Idia makes peace with where he is right now and lowers his head gently onto Malleus' shoulder, much to his content. He huffs in approval. 

"So... uh... how old are you ʳᵉᵃˡˡʸ?

Well, Malleus thinks. He knows he couldn't particularly keep it a secret for too long, but his sole hope is that Shroud won't look at him differently because of it.

"Two hundred twenty three years old."

"ʰᵒˡʸ... tsk... way you were talking, I thought you had more than five hundred..."

"Ha... Did I disappoint..?"

"Only that one time when I waited for hours for you to come."

"Ha... You will never let me live that one down, will you?"

"Well... maybe if you make it up to me with something equally shocking... I'll think about it."

Both of them chuckle.

"More important questions, my advisor..?"

"L-let me think for a bit... Whatever I want to ask or to say in front of you ᵛᵃᵖᵒʳⁱᶻᵉˢ, the way you tease me..."

"I am 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺!"

Idia snorts jokingly offended. Malleus exhales, somewhat relieved that his age is out of the way. This human... never fails to deliver.

"How about you tell me about yourself..."

And Malleus sighs again.

"Hm, you got me there..."

"Hey, it's only fair."

"I suppose it is. Let me cut it short for you though, lest we stay here for three more nights."

"Two hundred and twenty three years of excitement?"

"Let's see... like most fairy children are... I, too, was an accident."

"...ᵒʰ."

"Now, this is... ha, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭? My grandmother forbade anyone and everyone from mentioning my mother. How do I explain this... My mother was to inherit the throne. No one ever saw her visibly happy about that. She was never one to follow up on her responsibilities with the kingdom, or so I hear. She was notorious for mingling with humans on every occasion... and when there weren't any, she would leave for extended periods of time. Grandmother never quite punished her for the interaction with humans... 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳... But she fell from graces with the Queen for her behavior. Now, there is this one place in the north ... a mountain, where dragons gather to... as you said; 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦. Learn, fight, grow, mate. Mother got sent to the mountain to reclaim her reasoning. She returned pretty soon, simply to say goodbye. I was the goodbye present."

"...ᵒʰ ⁿᵒ..."

"Bits and pieces were told about the storm that came with the Queens anger, in which she disowned my mother for good. She was never found. Responsible or not; she was still a powerful sorceress, able to hide her own footsteps. And I - well, grandmother didn't quite 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 me just like that. Lilia took care of me until I was seventeen. He taught me many noble things. That is when I got sent to the mountain too."

"...ᵇᵘᵗ ʷʰʸ?"

"To prove my worth, naturally. The mountain isn't meant to be a punishment, tiring as it may be, staying there. I was but a whelp at the time, of course, but thirty years in that place did make me strong enough for the queen to accept me as the heir. One grows weary of governing a land at some point... so, I am to take her place. I am not as stupid to squander the opportunity and trust placed in me. No one can quite compare to the power and wisdom of the Queen, but I can hope to one day be part as powerful as she is. I will rule the Valley, and the throne ascension is set nine years from now..."

"All of it sounds like a fairy tale..."

Malleus chuckles.

"I am fae, Shroud." 

Idia scratches Malleus' leather-clad arm ever so slightly.

"Do you ever wish... you could do something else... anything at all? Other than being the prince of Darkness, I mean..."

"...That is... Hmpf, Shroud. You ask all the interesting questions."

"So you gave it some thought."

"In truth... I do have everything I have always wanted. Access to all the best literature and education. Infinite time to devote to enjoying and practicing music. Undisputed honor, titles and influence that come with it. But..."

"But you wish for little freedoms, like being able to come and go at a whim..."

Exactly. The boy sees it, unlike the long rivers of his guards and subordinates. And those who might see cannot change any of that, all they can is call him "young master", then hurry him back into the line... To get lost in the forest for days, or weeks. To explore the desolate streets of settlements long dead, or bask in the dazzling lights of human cities, where one soul is just as lonely. As it is, all he can do is creep out at night for a few hours. There might be something to what his mother did. But he will not achieve it like she did. All of that is going to change soon... when he has the throne... And then, there is only that something... or 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦, missing.

"What more am I to say, Shroud? Somehow, you already know it."

Idia inhales. There is always that something... Even when you have it all, there will always be something missing.

"S-so... once you become a king, then what..?"

"Then... I hope you will stay by my side to see it with your own eyes."

Idia's heart skips.

"I... I hope I will."

Idia's stomach clenches ever so tightly to the thought of the duties that come with him becoming the Lord of the household. He does what he does best, suppresses it forcefully, wanting to think of nothing but the vast, never-ending sea of clouds that shines under the moonlight. 

Malleus nudges Idia off his shoulder to look him in the eye. He holds his elbow weirdly.

"Shroud, will you help me take over the world?"

"Ha?"

"Half a century to set it all up, give or take. With you by my side, I would own it all. I would see the fairies mix their blood with human. No one to suffer over the sole pitiful century to walk this earth ever again. Rarely would they have to cry for the deaths of their loved ones. Several generations to even it out, when the whole world is my domain. An effortless transition. The resilience and future of fairies and humans crossbred. Think of the possibilities."

Idia stares wide eyed at Malleus, who looks at him gently, but expectant.

"ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ᶠᵘᶜᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵐᵃᵈ. You can't be serious..? Wait. You are serious."

Malleus' face contorts slightly, and he makes an evil smile. His pupils constrict and the glowing green in his eyes expands. 

"Don't you see it, Shroud... this is what it is all about. My power and influence. You can help me bring the fairy world into human communities... and I would rule them all. That is the truth of it. I have asked for your help and advice, but now I ask for more. This world's balance, it could be reset and rewritten. If only you'd lend me your hand. 

Idia stops, fixated on Malleus' mesmerizing eyes. If anyone else said this, he would immediately laugh, call bullshit and leave never to return but, but... truly... When this creature says it, Idia believes it. Hell, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. And all it would take is an obvious thing, a soft suggestion media campaign. A firsthand experience of the entrancing magic that the fairies possess, and humanity would be changed forever. Malleus may not know how to wield the weapon of mass media, but his gaze tells him that he is fully aware of its power. To see death itself out of commission or a rare occurrence would bring him nothing but joy. And the final step - the longevity of minds who could finally make technological breakthroughs that would finally erase the disease that is death... His thoughts jump to Ortho's tiny body lowered into the ground in a glass-lid coffin... then to beautiful fairies moving among humans as the summer winds would in the tall grass... A supreme lifespan for next generations in the new dawn... Vessels with the strength of never giving out...

And only one thing that Idia cannot comprehend.

"Malleus, of all the humans who lived before and will live, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘮𝘦?"

The fairy prince closes in on the boy.

"Because even so young, you are the single most amazing human I have ever met... and because I love you."

Idia's heart wants to burst out of his chest. He grabs Malleus' shoulder. He feels like screaming or crying. He cannot believe this is happening. 

"Listen, I... uhhhh..! I... ˢᵉʳⁱᵒᵘˢˡʸ, ᴵ ᵃᵐ ⁿᵒᵗʰⁱⁿᵍ ᵇᵘᵗ ᵗʳᵒᵘᵇˡᵉ... real trouble..."

"And I am at peace with trouble if it is for you."

"M-Ma... I..."

"It's alright."

Malleus pulls Idia's hood down, letting his hair unfold and sweeps the bangs off his face. He looks into the golden eyes, prettier than the moon. For the first time, Idia returns the touch willingly, stroking his neck slightly. Malleus cannot endure any longer. He dips his hand behind Idia's head and into his hair, and pulls him into a kiss. 

Idia loses it in the soft touch of their lips, letting Malleus' tongue graze past his pointy teeth and intertwining with his own, back and forth, to no end. His head spins. Bewildered, he cannot bring himself to close his eyes, watching as the fairy prince takes away his sanity, bit by bit. Malleus squeezes Idia's body harder, closer to his, seeking to merge with his incredible body heat. Short on breath, Idia pushes his arm farther and around Malleus' neck, pulling his hair. Diverted, Malleus breaks off, smirking, with the slightest of licks to Idia's blue lips with the slit tip of his long tongue. He lowers his forehead against that of a completely dazed and panting Idia, their hands still wrapped around each other. Malleus smiles at the boy whose flaming hair has flared up like a bonfire, tips flickering crimson red.

"You said that you are not afraid."

Idia doesn't speak. Unable to handle Malleus' teasing gaze, he wraps himself tight around his neck and hides there, in the fairy's hair. Malleus embraces Idia softly, stroking the flames which slowly fall back to the usual blues, taking in the frantic rhythm of the human heart against his chest.

"ᴵ ᵃᵐ ᵒⁿˡʸ ᵃᶠʳᵃⁱᵈ ᵒᶠ ʷʰᵃᵗ ᴵ ˢʰᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵈᵒ ʷⁱᵗʰ ʸᵒᵘ..."

Malleus smiles, gazing into the setting moon. 

"For now, I'll be happy to simply receive gao gifts here and there."

Idia hugs Malleus harder. Sensing the quiet turmoil going on inside of him, the fairy decides to let him be in peace for some time. 

The clouds begin to disperse and Malleus knows their time is drawing to a close. Finally, Idia lets him go and looks him in the eye with melancholy.

"Would you... ᵏᵉᵉᵖ ᵐᵉ ᶜᵒᵐᵖᵃⁿʸ in your spare wee hours...? I could... show you games or movies if you'd like..."

"My every spare wee hour is already yours."

Idia nods. He takes the ends of Malleus' hair and rubs it between his fingers.

"You are confusing, to no end... I... Give me some time to think about this."

"Naturally."

The boy exhales, slightly relieved. 

"I... uh, think we should go... no?"

"Alas."

Idia turns towards the moon one more time, making sure that he will remember this image for as long as he lives. Somewhat ominous, but rather appealing. Facing what is by far the largest unknown of his life so far and looking down into the dissipating sea of clouds, an irresistible urge to jump crawls under his skin. But as always, Idia knows better, that no such end could possibly immortalize this moment. Those with duties in death as in life don't get to break away from them that easily.

"Shroud."

Idia snaps back into reality, looking at Malleus. 

"I am confident. About this."

Idia grins drowsily.

"Never quite imagined fairy appetites are 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 big."

"Hm... Why have any if you cannot have it all, fu... fu fu..."

Idia chuckles.

"I, uh... suppose we should talk about this in private, then."

"And in spoken words only. I will make sure to take you... elsewhere, when you wish so."

Idia gives another nod in confirmation with the smallest of smiles. Malleus is fascinated with the way the boy responds to entirely new situations without so much as visibly batting an eye, even sounding more coherent in regular exchanges by the day. Stupidly excited about watching new movies with him almost as much as he is about world domination, he helps Idia up to his feet safely. He takes his cloak off and throws it over a yawning Idia for some extra warmth. 

"Please, sleep in until you are fully rested. I would hate to see you tired tonight."

Idia approaches Malleus and puts his hand around his neck, expecting to be carried. 

"That is ᵃ ᵗᵃˡˡ ᵒʳᵈᵉʳ, ʸᵒᵘʳ ᴴⁱᵍʰⁿᵉˢˢ, ᵘⁿˡᵉˢˢ ʸᵒᵘ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵖʳᵒᵐⁱˢᵉ ⁿᵒᵗ ᵗᵒ ʰᵃᵘⁿᵗ ᵐʸ ˢˡᵉᵉᵖ ᵗᵒⁿⁱᵍʰᵗ..."

Malleus grins, scooping Idia up as one would a precious doll, surely but delicately.

"That I cannot promise... But I can make sure that you sleep in whichever dreams come tonight."

"Nightmares too..?"

"Hmpf... You mock me... 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. If anything, I would keep those at bay for you."

Idia nudges the prince's nose, feeling as one would in a dream, letting go of his own weight in the fairy's arms. 

With a jump and a glide, a gust of wind clearing the skies for the morning to come carries them back to the castle in the capital of the Valley. Holding what feels like a fragile wisp, Malleus curses the short summer nights and short human lives.

Soon, Malleus and Idia find themselves back inside the warmth of the guest room, where Idia peels off himself that shameful crime against style and reason he almost forgot he committed.

Malleus watches him struggle with clothing, obviously tired beyond measure. First fiery colors of the day paint the horizon. 

"It is the 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 now."

Throwing the hoodie on the chair, Idia gives Malleus a weary look.

"That a thing in the Valley?"

"We also have the 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, and it is long gone, so as much as I would like to stay... I will be called for the Council soon, and I wish to see you asleep first."

Idia stops, looking at his tablet. It is almost 6am, and Ortho should be up in an hour or so. But before that happens, Idia would like to do something. 

"Give me... exactly five minutes, will you?"

\------------------  
Hey, you'll be up in an hour, but I'd just like you to give me some time to sleep, okay? Just going to, right now. Sorry. I messed up tonight again. Anyways, I am writing to you because... I can't say this out loud. I'm sorry! I'm a coward, as you know. I'm the worst. I'm in love with M.D, long story short. Yes, I know. No point in asking, I wouldn't know what to say. It is what it is. And I don't know what to do with it. What's worse, he seems to like me too. For now. Not like it's gonna go anywhere in the end. Perfectly aware. I wish things were easier and that I was better than this. Turns out, I'm not. It's stupid. I'm stupid. I'm sorry. I saw it coming and I didn't share. I'm scared. Don't be mad. I have no one to tell. I hope to talk to you when I wake up. Thanks. And I'm sorry. 

Finishing up a timed message to Ortho's charger pod, Idia pats the glass in front of his brother's face tenderly. Exhaling heavily, barely keeping his eyes open, he leaves and closes the door to Ortho's room.


End file.
